Poland is not noted for producing tennis stars, but Agnieszka Radwanska has certainly put the country on the map.

She has only just turned 19 and has already amassed $1m in prize money after less than two years on the main WTA tour and $446,000 of that has come in the first five months of this year.

She has the potential to be a top five player and, who knows, maybe even move higher with the right guidance. She has already moved up in the rankings from 381 at the end of 2006 to a career high of 14 and should move even higher with her fourth round appearance at Roland Garros this week. She is in eighth place in the WTA tour race which shows she is on an upward curve.

'Her first career title came that year in Stockholm when she destroyed a field of top players without even dropping a set'


The Krakow-based youngster had her breakthrough year in 2006, reaching the quarter-finals in Warsaw, semi-finals in Luxembourg and the fourth round of Wimbledon, very impressive on her first appearance on grass. She also collected wins against former French Open champion Anastasia Myskina, Venus Williams and Elena Dementieva - not bad for her first year on the main tour. In fact Agnieszka was still playing junior events that year, winning the French Open.

In 2007 Radwanska achieved even more success with victories over multiple Grand Slam winner Martina Hingis, Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli of France and Slovak top 10 player Daniela Hantuchova. 

Her first career title came that year in Stockholm when she destroyed a field of top players without even dropping a set. At the US Open late in the year, Radwanska knocked out Maria Sharapova in the third round, again showing her liking for the big stage and her enjoyment at knocking out big-name stars.

In the first Slam of the year, Radwanska made it into the quarter-finals, her best performance to date, but what was more impressive was the scalps she took, Svetlana Kuznetsova the No.2 seed, and Nadia Petrova, another experienced Russian. 

Since then she has won her second career title in Pattaya City, semi-finals in Doha and quarters in Indian Wells. Her clay court season was not as good as she may have hoped but a tournament victory in Istanbul just before the French Open put Radwanska back on track.

Next up is Wimbledon where she has natural ability on the grass court surface. I think she could be a real dark horse for this year's tournament. If the draw is kind to Agnieska she could do well.

Also watch out for her sister Uszula who is one year younger but has great potential too.