Classic chance to storm rankings

Agnieszka Radwanska is a woman on a mission at this week’s ASB Classic, determined to use the tournament as a launching pad to get back to where she once belonged.

The 28-year-old from Poland, who reached the final of Wimbledon in 2012 and was ranked No 2 in the world that same year, is now down at 28 in the world rankings. For a player of her ability, that’s disappointing.

She had distractions in 2017, like getting married to her coach Dawid Celt, but she’s also been plagued by injuries.

Even with everything that’s been going on off the court, she says the hunger is as fierce as ever.

‘‘The goal is to get back into the top 10,’’ Radwanska said.

‘‘At the moment that’s it. ‘‘We’ll see how it goes and every tournament you go into you want to win, that doesn’t change, but it’s good to have a goal.

‘‘Everything in tennis is changing, so it’s not going to be easy to do it, but I’ve nothing to lose.’’

A decade or so ago, women players were regarded as being past their prime when they reached Radwanska’s age, but there are seven players older than her who are ranked higher.

‘‘You can see girls are coming back and winning big tournaments and grand slams,’’ she said.

‘‘These days, it doesn’t matter how old you are, or how experienced you are.

‘‘I still have a couple of years to try to reach those biggest goals.’’

A criticism often thrown at women’s tennis is the unpredictability of the grand slam winners.

In the men’s it’s usually just a handful of players in contention to win each of them, but with the women’s any player who’s seeded can be regarded as someone having a chance.

‘‘It’s always been like this,’’ Radwanska said.

‘‘Maybe with Serena [Williams] it was a bit different, when she was on fire.

‘‘But it’s exciting, a lot of girls deserve to be top 10, but there are only 10 spots.

‘‘There are the top-30 players who can win grand slams and it’s very challenging for the top-five girls, but it’s also exciting because you don’t know who is going to win.’’

When it comes to who’s going to triumph at the Auckland classic, tournament organisers will be privately hoping it will be either Radwanska or Caroline Wozniacki, although there’s no chance of a dream final happening, as they’re both in the top half of the draw.

While Wozniacki is ranked No 3 in the world, she’s still to win the Auckland tournament, while Radwanska’s never lost a match in New Zealand, or indeed dropped a set.

If it’s not one of these two, then look out for second seed Julia Goerges, who is ranked 14 in the world and reached the final in Auckland in 2016.

Goerges is on a nine-match winning streak, with tournament victories in Moscow and Zhuhai, China, at the tail-end of the season.

‘‘It was a very exciting year for me and I’m glad to be back,’’ said Goerges, who is making her ninth appearance at the Classic.

‘‘I finished the last year strong and I’ve had a good second half of the year, the first half was consistent, but nothing big with the results.

‘‘I’m very happy with the way I’m improving and I’m getting better.’’

The last time Goerges was a top20 player was in 2012, so there’s been something of a revival in the fortunes of the 29-year-old.

‘‘I changed my team two years ago and I’ve developed in the right direction,’’ she said.

‘‘Even though the results weren’t there, the way I felt on court was that I was improving a lot, and it was just a matter of time before I brought that onto the court and into matches.’’

The goal is to get back into the top 10. Agnieszka Radwanska