She wasn't the Polish woman most expected to get there, but Magda Linette has earned her way into the semifinals of the Australian Open.
The soon-to-be 31-year-old (her birthday is on Feb. 12) has been somewhat of a giant-killer so far at 2023's first Grand Slam event: Ranked No. 45, she's beaten four seeded players in her deepest-ever run at a major. Before this fortnight, she's never been past the third round, and was 0-6 in those matches.
"When you work so hard for so many years and you are so close so many times in so many Grand Slams, it's really great that eventually you get that reward," Linette said after beating No. 19 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 32.
"I think I'm looking at things a little bit different. I'm older. I'm more experienced, and I just calm down a bit. Emotionally, I'm maybe finally growing up a little bit. When I'm down, I'm not that dramatic about it. I can still keep fighting against my opponent, not only myself."
Magda Linette at the 2023 Australian Open
R1: def. Mayar Sherif - 7-5, 6-1
R2: def. (16) Anett Kontaveit - 3-6, 6-3, 6-4
R3: def. (19) Ekaterina Alexandrova - 6-3, 6-4
R4: def. (4) Caroline Garcia - 7-6(3), 6-4
QF: def. (30) Karolina Pliskova - 6-3, 7-5
Some have called the Poznan native a late bloomer. A pro since 2009, Linette didn't win back-to-back matches at a major for the first time until Roland Garros in 2017, at age 25, and made her biggest strides in just over a year in 2019-20; she won her first two WTA singles titles, and reached a career-high ranking before her ascent was slowed by the hiatus brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, and later, knee surgery that forced her to miss the 2021 Australian Open.
But in the last 12 months, she's been back to her best. She beat Ons Jabeur in the first round of Roland Garros last spring, won her first two WTA doubles titles, and reached another singles final in Chennai, India last fall. She says her upswing stems from a refreshed mentality, one focused on pushing out the negative thoughts she said would historically consume her in matches in the face of adversity, with an experienced team of co-coaches: Brits Mark Gellard and Iain Hughes.
“I think, all my life, I've been taking mistakes, losses, very personally," she said on-court after beating Pliskova. "Disconnecting those to things, Magda the tennis player and the person, was really difficult. I felt, a lot of times, the misses, the mistakes are defining me. My coaches and me, did a really great job and I'm really thankful to them."
"We knew that we are on a really good path. We saw that I was improving and playing so much better," she later told reporters. "I think this is huge reward for not only me but also for them, that they see that they are doing really amazing job and it was really worth it going through those tough moments. It kind of boosts all of us, because they also need the reward."
Linette is the third Polish woman in the Open Era to reach the Australian Open semifinals after Agnieszka Radwanska and Iga Swiatek. As Swiatek has stormed up the rankings, and put together a history-making 2022 season, her elder compatriot Linette says her success has opened doors as an inspiration, not a point of comparison.
"I've really separated myself because she has done so much," Linette said. "She's so much ahead of me that I'm not really comparing myself in any way because it's just being too far away for now.
"But I think in general in Poland for tennis and for exposure of tennis and for me that is helping that people are just more interested in tennis as a sport in Poland because it never has been that really popular. So I think she has done so much for tennis in Poland, and by just coincidence that is helping me as well because just people are watching more. They are more interested.
"I think more people are coming for my matches as well because of it."
As a result of her run over the last fortnight, Linette is guaranteed to reach a career-high ranking next week; a loss to Aryna Sabalenka puts her at a new best of No. 22, while a Cinderella-style finish by winning the title would vault her into the Top 10. Whatever happens for the rest of her stay in Melbourne, she says she'll enjoy the experience through to the end.
"It took me so long to get here. ... It took me so many tough experiences along the way," Linette said. "Now, it feels it really was worth it."
