Magda Linette (born 12 February 1992) is a Polish professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 19, achieved in March 2023. She has reached eight finals on the WTA Tour, winning three titles, the semifinal of the 2023 Australian Open, and the third round of the other majors.
Magda Linette was born on 12 February 1992 in Poznań to Tomasz Linette and Beata Linette.[1] Her father is a tennis coach and her mother is an educator.[2] Linette was coached by Izudin Zunić during the first half of her career, but beginning in 2018, formed a partnership with Great Britain's Mark Gellard.[1][3]
Career
Juniors
As a youth she represented local club Grunwald Poznań with successes at junior level.[4]
Magda Linette in 2009
2010
In May, Linette received a wildcard to the qualifying draw of the Warsaw Open, a Premier-level tournament. 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 wildcard entrant.[5] In July, she made it to the final of the ITF Circuit tournament at Toruń but lost to top seed Ksenia Pervak, in straight sets.[6]
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 Sacha Jones from Australia. In Ystad, she won her first doubles title with her friend Katarzyna Piter.
Linette at the 2011 US Open
She won a $10k tournament in Prague, 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 semifinals of the indoor hardcourt tournament in Tallinn, falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. At the end of the month, she lost the singles final at the $25k Civitavecchia event to Anna Karolína Schmiedlová.
Getting through WTA tournament 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.[8] She lost her first semifinal match on WTA Tour to Shahar Pe'er.
Linette started to compete in successive indoor hardcourt events in France and got more success. She reached semifinals at the $50k Open de Touraine in Joué-lès-Tours. The week after, she won her eighth doubles title, partnering with Viktorija Golubic. She competed in her first $50k singles final in Nantes, falling to Aliaksandra Sasnovich. In December, she won a $25k tournament in Pune.
2014
Linette during her first-round match at the 2015 French Open
Linette launched her grass-court season with two ITF tournaments in England but lost twice to 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 Tour events. At Guangzhou, she reached her first WTA Tour doubles final, partnering Alizé Cornet.
She reached the quarterfinals at the Katowice Open and the Pan Pacific Open.
At the end of the 2016 season, she was ranked No. 96.
Her 2017 season 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 doubles final at Bogotá (with Cepede Royg), having been runner-up at the 2014 Guangzhou and 2016 Hong Kong events.[10]
In August 2019, Linette won the first edition of the Bronx Open, her first WTA Tour title.[11] The following week, Linette continued at Flushing Meadows where she lost to defending champion Naomi Osaka in the second round of the US Open.[12] Linette cracked the top 50 for the first time in her career, after reaching the second round of the US Open.
In February 2020, Linette won the Thailand Open, rising to a career-high ranking of No. 33. In December, she was honoured by the WTA with the Fan Favorite Shot of the Year, which she performed in round two of the Thailand Open against Peng Shuai.[14]
2021: New coach, first major doubles SF & two singles 3rd rounds
Linette started the season at the end of March due to a knee injury. In May, she advanced to her first semifinal, since triumphing at the Hua Hin Championships in February 2020, in Strasbourg. She defeated Yulia Putintseva in the quarterfinal before losing a three-set semifinal match against Sorana Cîrstea.[15]
On May 21, Linette posted on Instagram that she started a new coaching partnership with Dawid Celt, who was previously coaching Agnieszka Radwańska.[16]
At the French Open, Linette defeated Chloé Paquet, and top seed Ashleigh Barty who retired with injury. In the third round, she lost to Ons Jabeur in three sets. At the same tournament in doubles, partnering with American Bernarda Pera, she reached the semifinals for the first time in her career.
At the Australian Open, Linette defeated Mayar Sherif, 16th seed Anett Kontaveit, 19th seed Ekaterina Alexandrova[21] and fourth seed Caroline Garcia reaching the quarterfinals, her best career result at a major tournament.[22] She went on to defeat 30th seed Karolína Plíšková to enter the semifinals where she lost to the eventual champion Aryna Sabalenka, in straight sets.[23][24] As a result, she reached No. 22 on 30 January 2023,[25] and world No. 19 on 20 March 2023.
At the Miami Open, she reached the fourth round at the WTA 1000-level for a first time defeating this time Victoria Azarenka for her tenth career top-20 win.[26]
At the US Open, she reached the quarterfinals in doubles for the first time at this major, partnering Bernarda Pera.
In September, Linette played in Guangzhou as the top seed and reached her sixth final but lost heavily to Wang Xiyu, winning only two games.[27]
In October, she qualified for the 2023 WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.
2024: Third singles title in Prague, first WTA 1000 quarterfinal
In September, at the WTA 1000 China Open, Linette reached the fourth round at that level only for the second time, with an upset over world No. 5, Jasmine Paolini, for her first top five season win.[33]
At the next WTA 1000 Wuhan Open, Linette upset two Russian seeds en route, 11th seed Liudmila Samsonova[34] and 8th seed Daria Kasatkina in the round of 16 to reach her first WTA 1000-level quarterfinal[35] which she lost to fourth seed Coco Gauff.[36]
Linette playing a slice backhand, a shot that she uses frequently to break her opponent's rhythm.
Linette started out as a defensive player, whose game was primarily built around her strong movement and consistent ball striking from the baseline. The Pole has, however, began finding an increasing amount of success after altering her game style away from being a counterpuncher, to actively creating opportunities to hit winners on the court. Ever since partnering with Mark Gellard, Linette also worked on improving the mental aspect of her game.[38]
"My whole life, I've needed a bit more time for everything![...] You have a different starting point but you're measured by the same measures as everybody else."
—Linette on the lack of institutional support in Poland and having her most successful season at the age of 28.[2]
Her strengths on court are her speed, footwork, court coverage, and anticipation.[38] 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.
Having spent a significant time on the doubles circuit as well, Linette has developed solid volleying skills and often looks 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.
Linette's serve is not particularly strong, with her first serve averaging 95 mph (153 km/h) and her second serve averaging 80 mph (130 km/h), 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.
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
^Edition is split into the two years due to COVID-19.
^ abcdThe first Premier 5 event of the year has switched back and forth between the Dubai Tennis Championships and the Qatar Ladies Open since 2009. Dubai was classified as a Premier 5 event from 2009 to 2011 before being succeeded by Doha for the 2012–2014 period. In 2015, Dubai regained its Premier 5 status while Doha was demoted to Premier status. The Premier 5 tournaments were reclassified as WTA 1000 tournaments in 2021.
^During the season, she did not play in the main draw of any tour-level tournaments. However, she played at the Billie Jean King Cup, which is not counted as a played tournament but matches counted.
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