Agnieszka Radwanska insists she will be fit to face Serena Williams in today’s Wimbledon semi-final despite suffering a health scare yesterday which caused her to cancel a scheduled news conference.
After pulling out of her pre-final interview session, Radwanska confirmed she is fighting breathing problems and has been struggling to talk.
“Unfortunately I have picked up upper respiratory illness, it’s affecting my nose and throat,” she said.
“I have been playing a lot of matches here in the rain and cold wind, and I haven’t been well for a few days. The most important thing is that I’m feeling good on the court and playing some good tennis, despite not being able to talk much away from the court.
“I will do whatever it takes to make sure I’m ready to play the best I can,” added the Pole, who withdrew from her scheduled doubles third round match in midweek where she was playing with sister Urszula.
Radwanska, the first Polish Grand Slam finalist for 73 years, had to cut short her media duties on Thursday after beating Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
The 23-year-old was so badly troubled by a cough during the 10-minute session that she had to call a premature halt to proceedings after several sips of water failed to ease the problem.
Victory this afternoon, meanwhile, would elevate her to the world number one ranking.
“Everyone dreams when they are a kid about becoming no.1, so I’m very happy to have a chance to play for the top ranking,” she added in a statement.
“But there is still one very tough match to go. Of course, I will do everything in my power to perform well and win, but it’s not going to be easy.”
The world number three’s coach Tomasz Wiktorowski expects the Pole to recover in time for the biggest match of her life.
“She’s still sick, we’re trying to do the best to bring her back to health for the match,” Wiktorowski said.
“As you know what can we do? With the anti-doping policy we have to obey all the rules. We can’t use all the medications in the shops. We can just use garlic, hot tea with honey, aspirin... nothing else.”