Runner-up is a moniker all too familiar to Aga Radwanska. How long will the door of opportunity and Grand Slam titles remain ajar for the world number three?

At 27 years of age, Poland’s number one player has yet to win a major but perhaps like Angelique Kerber, who won her first and second major this season at twenty-eight, her best tennis is on the horizon.

With her sights set on defending her title at the season-ending championships in Singapore later this month, Radwanska withdrew from the Tianjin Open after her quarterfinal win due to a right thigh injury.

She was on an eight-match winning streak having won her 20th career title and second China Open last week without the loss of a set. She defeated Britain’s Johanna Konta in the final of this prestigious Premier Mandatory Event.

If perennial bridesmaid aptly defines her career to date, then unorthodox and mesmerizing describe her tennis. Renowned and admired for her creative and thoughtful shot selection and exemplary movement, Radwanska has managed to make significant inroads on a tour saturated with power players.

In 2012 she reached her first grand slam final at Wimbledon losing to Serena Williams in three sets. As a result of her success at the All England Club, she achieved a career-high ranking of world no. 2.

She routinely enters more tournaments than any other top player and yet remarkably remains, for the most part, injury free. Although she has yet to win a Grand Slam title, she is tied with Kerber this season for most hard court wins and is second to Kerber for most match wins on all surfaces combined.

While most players dream of winning multiple slams and schedule their season so as to peak at the majors, Radwanska appears to have a different agenda. Is it plausible to assume that her carefree approach to the inevitable trials and tribulations of a grueling tour, while denying her grand slam glory, has enabled her to remain in the top ten for the last six years?

Perhaps she is motivated by a pure, unadulterated love of the game and its inherent competition – not fame, wealth or historic hardware. This in no way negates her desire to win a grand slam title. In 2015 she hired 18-time grand slam champion Martina Navratilova as a part-time consulting coach in order to clear the remaining hurdles and win her first major.

Aga seems content to maintain a full schedule each season despite the risk of being mentally and physically depleted at the latter stages of the slams. 

With her win at the China Open, she is now one of four players to have won at least three titles at the Premier Mandatory Level. The other three players not surprisingly, are multiple slam winners Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova.

Radwanska’s quiet elegance and subtle genius continue to captivate those lucky enough to watch her compete. Instead of focusing on the hardware missing from her trophy case, perhaps the critics should revel in her highly entertaining, unique style of play and the magic it so often produces.

Her resume, though devoid of grand slam titles reads as follows: wicked slice, pinpoint lobs, deft drop shots, acute angles and crouching forehand.

Although Radwanska’s serve is the weakest and most attackable shot in her arsenal, like Martina Hingis, she is an all-court mathematician utilizing the geometry of the court to neutralize her opponent’s power.

This season she has amassed a win/loss record of 49-16 with three titles and should gain confidence from her remarkable consistency and most recent upward trajectory. With players on the WTA and ATP tours winning majors after the age of thirty, Aga at just twenty-seven years of age surely has time on her side.