Megafeud: Aga v Vika

WORLD number six Agnieszka Radwanska has accused Victoria Azarenka, the world's leading female player, of harming the image of women’s tennis.

The 22-year-old Pole said she was "angry" and had lost respect for the superbly in-form Belarussian, alleging that Azarenka's behaviour in Doha last week had not been good for the game.

Radwanska appeared to be referring to Azarenka's hobbling and wincing between rallies during parts of their semi-final match, whilst still moving well enough during the rallies to secure a solid, straight sets win.

It follows Radwanska's criticisms of grunting in the women's game last month after losing to Azarenka in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open.

Radwanska's latest comments came when she was asked in a press conference after a quarter-final win at the Dubai Open here whether she had been annoyed at the end of last week's loss in Doha.

"Well, to be honest, I don't think this is worth a comment. But I think after this match....just lost a lot of respect. That's it,” she said.

"If you do this in the match, if anyone didn't see the match, I think it's just a quick look on YouTube and you'll know what was going on."

The questioner responded by saying that he had not been seeking for Radwanska to criticise another player, but she continued anyway.

"Yeah, I was angry because I don't think this is the great image for the women's tennis, what was going on there," she added. "So, yeah, unfortunately."

YouTube clips show Radwanska offering a peremptory handshake to Azarenka with no eye contact at the end of the match, and include a TV commentator saying that Azarenka's behaviour had affected her opponent's focus.

However Azarenka’s contention that her ankle had been painful was lent weight by her decision on Wednesday to withdraw from the Dubai Open to allow more time for it to heal.

Radwanska's critical remarks in Australia came after a three-set loss to Azarenka, whose hooting and shrieking while striking the ball has been attracting criticism for some time.

Though Radwanska suggested she had got used to this, she nevertheless used post-match interviews after her loss to Azarenka to criticise Maria Sharapova's shriek. She described this as "pretty annoying" and "just too loud".

"Of course everybody can make some noise. This is tennis," Radwanska said.

"But I think it's just too loud. I don't think it's very necessary to scream that loud. So if they (the WTA) want to do something, why not?"

During some of Azarenka's matches in Melbourne, spectators mimicked her noise and Channel 7 produced a "Whoo! meter" to measure it.

Although Radwanska is at career-high ranking, she is more than 2000 points behind Sharapova, who is number two in the world, and more than 3700 behind Azarenka at number one.

However Radwanska can climb one place to number five, above US Open champion Sam Stosur, if she wins the Dubai Open title this week. She plays Jelena Jankovic, the former world number one from Serbia, in the semi-finals.


I'm on Team Aga.

This has Haye-Chisora potential. Vika's got the size and power but Aga's more mobile and has more savvy.

I'm just interested, if everyone in the WTA had a fight who would win?

What a fucking bitch Victoria Azarenka is turning out to be, a total coco shunter.

She took Daniela's doubles partner to the woodshed!

Unreal performance by Vika BTW.

I think Vika was a bit pissed at Aga after the Doha comment (Aga saying Vika was a bad role model for women's tennis). In the press interview after the QF Vika said something about she hoped her tennis was a good example of women's tennis. I am pretty sure it was a comeback to Aga. Also Vika and Aga used to be pretty good friends, so it must "hurt" to be backstabbed like that. A true friend, IMO, would have asked Vika and confronted her instead of going to the media and bitch. But I think that was the only reaction Vika had. The dancing she's done for while. And I don't think she does it to be cocky. I think it is an inside joke between her and her camp. If you look at her twitter pics, you'll see lots of dorky pictures.

Azarenka's playing awesome tennis at the moment, the loud woman's turned the volume up to 12. I get the impression she really enjoys the aggro and likes to provoke a reaction and she uses criticism and antagonism as motivation. She seems to have adopted the attitude that "I'm Vika Azarenka and I'll do what I like." Who knows what's gone on privately between Azarenka and Radwanska.

Daniela's skipping Charleston, so she's pacing herself through the season, especially with the Olympics in the summer. The Olympics are so important to Daniela, plus the scheduling means there's only a week off between Wimbledon and Stanford so she doesn't have as much time to rest and train that she's had in previous seasons. After Wimbledon Daniela only has Carlsbad and Cincinnati to defend points at, so if she can stay healthy she can do well in the second half of the year.