By CHRISTOPHER CLAREY
Published: June 19, 2009
The primary languages of the women’s tennis tour — English, Spanish and French — have been joined in recent years by Russian and Chinese.
But there is a new language making inroads on the practice courts and in player restaurants and even in the later rounds of important tournaments: Polish.
“It’s good to not all the time have to speak in English on the tour,” said the Polish star Agnieszka Radwanska, 20. “It’s good to get the chance to speak your own language; it makes you more comfortable.”
The 11th-ranked Radwanska, Poland’s biggest tennis star since Wojtek Fibak in the 1970s and ’80s, has plenty of opportunity these days. And not just because her younger sister, Urszula, 18, who was also a Wimbledon junior champion, has been making progress and is now 71st in the world.
There is also an expanding group of players of Polish origin who are making a significant impact, led by Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada and Sabine Lisicki of Germany.
All three are the Polish-speaking daughters of first-generation Polish immigrants. “We all hang out,” Wozniak said. “It’s a good connection.”
All three are in the top 50 in the world, with Wozniacki, 18, leading the way at No. 9 and Wozniak, 21, at a career-high ranking of 23 after her surprise run to the fourth round of the French Open.
No wonder fan sites tracking the Polish tennis diaspora have begun to emerge on the Web. There have been others worth tracking of late, too, including Olivia Rogowska, an Australian teenager who is the daughter of Polish immigrants, who reached the second round in Paris this year after receiving a wild card.
“I think the immigrant mentality is a powerful thing,” Wozniak said by telephone from Eastbourne, England, this week. “They are people who will do anything to achieve their dreams. They have this very strong desire to accomplish goals. They are perfectionist and work hard, because of this mentality. I know, because I have it, and I know how much I never want to give up.”
Though she looked overwhelmed by the occasion in Paris when she lost to Serena Williams on center court in the fourth round, Wozniak has quickly recovered her cool and rhythm. In Eastbourne, she upset Svetlana Kuznetsova, the new French Open champion, in two lopsided sets and had a semifinal date with Wozniacki on Friday.
Wozniacki and Wozniak, whose similar surnames have long been a source of confusion in the junior and now senior ranks, are both the children of former Polish soccer players. Wozniacki’s father played professionally in Poland and Denmark, which explains how his daughter happened to become Denmark’s first truly world-class women’s tennis player. Her mother played volleyball for the Polish national team.
Wozniak’s father also played soccer professionally in Poland before immigrating to Montreal in 1983 with his wife and their first daughter, Dorota, who would become a top junior in Canada and later played tennis for San Diego State University.
Aleksandra was born in Montreal but has made several visits to Poland.
“We live in a different world,” she said. “I was born in Montreal, but definitely I was growing up Polish. So I feel pretty much I have a strong connection to my Polish heritage. But I feel Canadian and definitely am proud of being a Canadian and representing the country all over the world in a sport where there are not many Canadians anymore.”
Lisicki, a 19-year-old born in Germany, has followed a more established path to her world ranking of 43. For the last several years she has trained regularly with her father as her coach at the Bollettieri Tennis Academy in Florida.
Fibak, an entrepreneur and art collector, now does occasional tennis commentary for Polish television. For him, Agnieszka Radwanska is the new Martina Hingis. She is “a natural mover who understands the geometry of the court,” he said. Wozniacki is in the same vein as Maria Sharapova, he said, not because of her recent shoulder problems but because “she’s hitting so hard off both wings.” Lisicki, for Fibak, “moves and hits like Kim Clijsters,” the former world No. 1 from Belgium.
Lisicki, who possesses one of the biggest serves in the women’s game, commanded attention in April by winning her first tour title in Charleston. It came on clay, and she beat Venus Williams of the United States, Marion Bartoli of France and Wozniacki (all top 20 players) on the way. Her momentum has been stopped in recent weeks by a shoulder problem and appendicitis.
Poland has a history of supplying Germany with sports stars, including Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski, both Polish-born soccer players currently on the German national team.
The Radwanskas could have been part of the exodus, too. Urszula was born in Germany and Agnieszka began playing there at age 4 in the club in Gronau where her father was a teaching pro.
“It was almost the same way for us as for the others,” Agnieszka said. “But when I was 6 or 7, my father decided that Urszula and I should go to Polish schools, so we went back to Poland. I think it was a good decision for the family.”
Poland has had a dearth of prominent tennis players since Fibak was winning in singles and doubles. Fibak, once in the top 10, also coached Ivan Lendl, helping him win his first major title, at the 1984 French Open.
No Polish man has emerged to evoke memories of Fibak. The women are filling the void. “It’s partly the product of Solidarity and the freedom that Poles had to move and explore outside opportunities,” Fibak said of the new wave of players with Polish accents. “In a way, it’s surprising that it has taken this long for us to become a factor in tennis again.”
Agnieszka Radwanska sees training conditions as a reason for Polish tennis families to have stayed abroad. “For sure, Fibak is right about Solidarity,” she said. “But I think also in Poland, it’s not really good to practice. For example, in Krakow, where I live, there are no hard courts, only indoor clay and indoor carpet. I can understand that other people prefer to practice in a tennis academy in the U.S.A. or Spain or wherever. But I just feel good at home, even if it means I have to practice on the carpet.”
SB 20 VI 2009
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