Magda Linette


Magda Linette is a Polish professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is world No. 33, which she reached on 17 February 2020. Her career high in doubles is No. 95, achieved on 27 July 2015.
She made her first appearance in a WTA Tour main draw at the Internationaux de Strasbourg in May 2013, where she also scored her first win at this level. The same year, she reached her first WTA semifinal in Baku, coming from qualifying. Linette won her first WTA Tour title at the 2019 Bronx Open, and her first WTA 125K title at the 2014 Ningbo International Women's Tennis Open. Her best result in WTA Premier tournaments is quarterfinal of 2016 Toray Pan Pacific Open.

Personal life

Magda Linette was born to Tomasz and Beata and resides in Poznań. She is a right-handed player and is currently coached by Izudin 'Izo' Zunić. She likes all surfaces.

Tennis career

2010

In May, Magda Linette received a wildcard to the qualifying draw of Polsat Warsaw Open – part of WTA Premier series. She beat her doubles partner Paula Kania in straight sets but lost to Anna Chakvetadze. In June, she won her first professional tournament in Szczecin as a wild-card entrant. In July, she made it to the final of the ITF tournament at Toruń but lost to top seed Ksenia Pervak from Russia in straight sets.
Magda Linette won another two ITF titles in August, in Hechingen and Versmold, both in Germany. In Hechingen, as a qualifier, she defeated Sílvia Soler Espinosa of Spain, and in Versmold she beats Romanian Irina-Camelia Begu in straight sets, 6–2, 7–5.
She continued to play $25k tournaments and won her fourth title of the season in Katowice, where she defeated Eva Birnerová in three sets. The week after, she reached another final in Zagreb but lost to Renata Voráčová in three sets after 21 consecutive wins on the ITF Women's Circuit. She reached the final in Opole, losing to Sandra Záhlavová in three sets.

2011

In early February, Linette played for the first time as a member of Poland Fed Cup team. She defeated Anne Kremer in straight sets, but lost her three other matches.
In May, she made her first appearance in a Grand Slam tournament, playing in the qualifying rounds.

2012

Starting the season with several early exits, Magda Linette reached her first singles final in over 18 months at the $10k event of Florence in May but lost to Anaïs Laurendon. She reached a $25k final in Kristinehamn a month later, defeated by Australia's Sacha Jones. In Ystad, she won her first doubles title with her friend Katarzyna Piter.
She won the $10k of Prague after beating Kateřina Siniaková and Zuzana Luknárová without dropping a set, lifting her fifth singles trophy in career and the first since September 2010.
In October and November, Linette got some of her best wins of the season by beating Eleni Daniilidou in Limoges, Monica Puig in Nantes, and Karolína Plíšková in Équeurdreville. She added two more doubles titles to her prize list, including her first $50k level trophy in Limoges with compatriot Sandra Zaniewska. In December, she ended her season by winning another tournament in doubles with Katarzyna Piter in Ankara.

2013

Back in Europe in late March, Linette reached the semifinals at the indoor hard court tournament of Tallinn, falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. At the end of the month, Linette reached the singles final at the $25k event of Civitavecchia, losing to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová.
Getting through WTA qualifying at the Baku Cup, Linette made her second appearance in a main draw at this level. She defeated Julia Cohen, runner-up of the previous edition, then Kristýna Plíšková to reach the quarterfinals where she benefited from a controversial retirement of Ons Jabeur. She lost in her first WTA semifinals to Shahar Pe'er.
Linette started to compete in successive indoor hard events in France and got more success. She reached the semifinals at $50k Joué-lès-Tours. The week after, she won her eighth doubles title, pairing up with Viktorija Golubic. She competed in her first $50,000+H singles final in Nantes, falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. In December, she won a $25k tournament in Pune.

2014

Linette launched her grass season with two ITF tournaments in Great Britain but lost twice to Estonia's Anett Kontaveit in straight sets. She sustained an ankle injury from her first qualifying match at Wimbledon and had to stop playing for a month.
In September, she played a series of WTA events. At Guangzhou, she reached her first WTA doubles final, partnering Alizé Cornet. She won a $25k event in Goyang.
In late October two weeks later, she won the WTA 125 tournament in Ningbo, defeating 6th seed Wang Qiang in the final ; it was the biggest title of her career and her first WTA trophy.

2015: First Top 100 season

Linette won a Grand Slam match for the first time when she beat her compatriot Urszula Radwańska at the US Open, but then she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. She reached the Japan Open final, peaking at a ranking of no. 64.

2016

Linette reached the quarterfinals at the Katowice Open and the Pan Pacific Open. At the end of the year, she was ranked no. 96.

2017-2018

Linette's season in 2017 was highlighted by third tour-level semifinal of her career at Kuala Lumpur and the semifinals at the Malaysian Open. She appeared in her third career WTA doubles final at Bogotá, having been runner-up at 2014 Guangzhou and 2016 Hong Kong. In 2018, Linette advanced to the quarterfinals at the Taiwan Open and at the Copa Colsanitas in Bogota.

2019: First WTA title and top 50

On August 24, Linette won the first edition of the Bronx Open, her first WTA Tour title. The following week, Linette continued at Flushing Meadows where she lost to defending champion Naomi Osaka in the second round of the US Open. Linette cracked the top 50 for the first time in her career after reaching the second round of the US Open.
Linette reached her third WTA final at the Korea Open, losing to Karolína Muchová.

2020: Thailand Open title and top 40

In February, Linette won the 2020 Thailand Open, rising to a career-high ranking of no. 33.

Playing style

Linette is a defensive player, whose game is played primarily from the baseline, and who can be described as a counterpuncher. Her strengths on court are her speed, footwork, court coverage, and anticipation. Her strongest groundstroke is her two-handed backhand, which is hit flat and with depth, and which is responsible for many of the winners she accumulates on court. Her forehand is also strong, and is hit with topspin, making it a safe and reliable shot. Due to her doubles experience, Linette has solid volleying skills, and will choose to finish points off at the net. She is capable of introducing drop shots and sliced backhands into points, constantly breaking up an opponent's rhythm, and to attempt to draw unforced errors out of aggressive players. Her serve is not particularly strong, with her first serve averaging 95 mph and her second serve averaging 80 mph, but is reliable, meaning that, whilst she does not ace frequently, double faults are also uncommon. She is a strong player on return, also, effectively neutralising strong first serves with a backhand down-the-line or a cross-court forehand. Linette's increased success in recent years has come as a result of her altering her game style away from being a grinding counterpuncher, to actively creating opportunities to hit winners on the court.

Performance timelines

Only main-draw results in WTA Tour, Grand Slam tournaments, Fed Cup and Olympic Games are included in Win–Loss records.

Singles

Current through the suspension of the 2020 WTA Tour.
Notes

Singles: 4 (2 titles, 2 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–12015 Japan Women's Open – Singles|Japan Women's Open, JapanInternationalHard Yanina Wickmayer6–4, 3–6, 3–6
Win1–12019 Bronx Open – Singles|Bronx Open, United StatesInternationalHard Camila Giorgi5–7, 7–5, 6–4
Loss1–22019 Korea Open – Singles|Korea Open, South KoreaInternationalHard Karolína Muchová1–6, 1–6
Win2–22020 Thailand Open – Singles|Hua Hin Championships, ThailandInternationalHard Leonie Küng6–3, 6–2

Doubles: 3 (3 runner-ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–12014 Guangzhou International Women's Open – Doubles|Guangzhou Open,
China		InternationalHard Alizé Cornet Chuang Chia-jung
Liang Chen		6–2, 6–7,
Loss0–22016 Tianjin Open – Doubles|Tianjin Open,
China		InternationalHard Xu Yifan Christina McHale
Peng Shuai		6–7, 0–6
Loss0–32017 Copa Colsanitas – Doubles|Copa Colsanitas,
Colombia		InternationalClay Verónica Cepede Royg Beatriz Haddad Maia
Nadia Podoroska		3–6, 6–7

WTA 125K series finals

Singles: 2 (1 title, 1 runner-up)

ITF Circuit finals

Singles: 20 (11 titles, 9 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Jun 2010ITF Szczecin, Poland25,000Clay Margit Rüütel6–2, 6–0
Loss1–1Jun 2010ITF Toruń, Poland25,000Clay Ksenia Pervak4–6, 1–6
Win2–1Aug 2010ITF Hechingen, Germany25,000Clay Sílvia Soler-Espinosa7–5, 3–6, 6–2
Win3–1Aug 2010ITF Versmold, Germany25,000Clay Irina-Camelia Begu6–2, 7–5
Win4–1Sep 2010ITF Katowice, Poland25,000Clay Eva Birnerová3–6, 6–2, 6–2
Loss4–2Sep 2010ITF Zagreb, Croatia25,000Clay Renata Voráčová1–6, 6–4, 4–6
Loss4–3Nov 2010ITF Opole, Poland25,000Carpet Sandra Záhlavová7–5, 6–7, 4–6
Loss4–4May 2012ITF Florence, Italy10,000Clay Anaïs Laurendon4–6, 4–6
Loss4–5Jun 2012ITF Kristinehamn, Sweden25,000Clay Sacha Jones4–6, 4–6
Win5–5Sep 2012ITF Prague, Czech Republic10,000Clay Zuzana Luknárová6–2, 7–6
Loss5–6Apr 2013ITF Civitavecchia, Italy25,000Clay Anna Karolína Schmiedlová0–6, 1–6
Loss5–72013 Open GDF Suez Nantes Atlantique – Singles|ITF Nantes, France50,000+HHard Aliaksandra Sasnovich6–4, 4–6, 2–6
Win6–7Dec 2013ITF Pune, India25,000Hard Kamila Kerimbayeva7–5, 7–6
Loss6–8Dec 2013ITF Navi Mumbai, India25,000Hard Rika Fujiwara6–2, 6–7, 6–7
Win7–8Oct 2014ITF Goyang, South Korea25,000Hard Renata Voráčová6–3, 3–6, 6–3
Win8–8Feb 2015ITF Grenoble, France25,000Hard Tereza Martincová7–6, 4–6, 6–1
Win9–8Feb 2015ITF New Delhi, India25,000Hard Tadeja Majerič6–1, 6–1
Loss9–92015 Aegon Ilkley Trophy – Women's Singles|ITF Ilkley, United Kingdom50,000Grass Anna-Lena Friedsam7–5, 3–6, 1–6
Win10–92016 Engie Open de Cagnes-sur-Mer Alpes-Maritimes – Singles|ITF Cagnes-sur-Mer, France100,000Clay Carina Witthöft6–3, 7–5
Win11–92019 Manchester Trophy – Singles|ITF Manchester, United Kingdom100,000Grass Zarina Diyas7–6, 2–6, 6–3

Doubles: 17 (8 titles, 9 runner–ups)

ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Nov 2010ITF Opole, Poland25,000Carpet Paula Kania Oksana Kalashnikova
Polina Pekhova		3–6, 4–6
Loss0–2Apr 2011ITF Casablanca, Morocco25,000Clay Katarzyna Piter Sandra Klemenschits
Kristina Mladenovic		3–6, 6–3,
Loss0–3May 2011ITF Rome, Italy50,000Clay Liana Ungur Sophie Ferguson
Sally Peers		w/o
Loss0–4Sep 2011ITF Mestre, Italy50,000Clay Tímea Babos Valentyna Ivakhnenko
Marina Melnikova		4–6, 5–7
Loss0–5Nov 2011ITF Opole, Poland25,000Carpet Paula Kania Naomi Broady
Kristina Mladenovic		6–7, 4–6
Win1–5Jun 2012ITF Ystad, Sweden25,000Clay Katarzyna Piter Oksana Kalashnikova
Lenka Wienerová		6–3, 6–3
Loss1–6Sep 2012ITF Prague, Czech Republic10,000Clay Kateřina Kramperová Lucy Brown
Angelica Moratelli		3–6, 7–5,
Win2–6Oct 2012ITF Limoges, France50,000Hard Sandra Zaniewska Irena Pavlovic
Stefanie Vögele		6–1, 5–7,
Win3–6Nov 2012ITF Équeurdreville, France25,000Hard Katarzyna Piter Amra Sadiković
Ana Vrljić		6–4, 7–6
Win4–6Dec 2012ITF Ankara, Turkey50,000Hard Katarzyna Piter Irina Buryachok
Valeria Solovyeva		6–2, 6–2
Loss4–7Apr 2013ITF Civitavecchia, Italy25,000Clay Paula Kania Stephanie Vogt
Renata Voráčová		3–6, 4–6
Win5–7May 2013ITF Johannesburg, South Africa50,000Hard Chanel Simmonds Samantha Murray
Jade Windley		6–1, 6–3
Win6–7May 2013ITF Maribor, Slovenia25,000Clay Paula Kania Mailen Auroux
Maria Irigoyen		6–3, 6–0
Win7–7Jul 2013ITF Toruń, Poland25,000Clay Paula Kania Yuliya Beygelzimer
Elena Bogdan		6–2, 4–6,
Loss7–8Sep 2013ITF Loughborough, Great Britain25,000Hard Tereza Smitková Çağla Büyükakçay
Pemra Özgen		2–6, 7–5,
Win8–8Oct 2013ITF Limoges, France50,000Hard Viktorija Golubic Nicole Clerico
Nikola Fraňková		6–4, 6–4
Loss8–9Mar 2014ITF Edgbaston, Great Britain25,000Hard Amra Sadiković Jocelyn Rae
Anna Smith		6–3, 5–7,

Head-to-head vs. top-10 ranked players

Head-to-head vs. top-10 ranked players and players who have been in top 10