According to the tournament director, last year's champion and world number two Agnieszka Radwanska will be returning in Tianjin to defend her title. The Tianjin Open is held in the week of 10 to 16 October, one of the flaming weeks of the calendar as we are closing on to the WTA Finals. Radwanska last year by winning Tianjin, beating Danka Kovinic in the final, secured her place in the Singapore Elite eight and then went on to win the event. This year, she will be looking for her first successful title defense as well.
Radwanska in Asia
The Pole is well known about having a good tradition on Asian ground. Specifically, the world number two has won 10 out of her 18 titles in Asia. Despite the fact that many players seem to be tired after the long year and always come to Asia with many matches in their feet, usually tired and some with injuries, Radwanska always finds some form during this part of the season, getting advantage of the other's fatigue and of course of the fast courts. This year the Polish number one will be defending 2321 points in Asia, the last three months of the season, which were practically the ones that saved her 2015, which began rather disappointing.
Radwanska's 2016 year to date
The Pole has been one of the most consistent players in 2016, bustling with confidence after her win in the WTA Finals, making the semifinals in five out of the six tournaments she has played so far and in nine out of the last eleven since last year's US Open. She began the season with winning the Shenzhen Open and the moved on to make the semifinals in the Australian Open before losing to Serena Williams. She then made back to back semifinals in Doha and Indian Wells losing to Carla Suarez Navarro and Williams respectively. However, she managed to crawl her way back to world number two, where she was back in 2012. In Miami, she surrender to an early exit in the round of 16 by eventual semifinalist Timea Bacsinszky. Last week, she returned on tour after an injury that forced her out of her home tournament in Katowice to make her clay season debut in Stuttgart. After beating Andrea Petkovic and Karolina Pliskova, she fell in the semifinal to an inspired Laura Siegemund, who had previously ousted Simona Halep and Roberta Vinci. The Pole is currently in the second place of the world rankings and the third of the Road To Singapore. Her next tournament is the third Premier Mandatory stop of the year in Madrid.