LONDON – Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska insists she will be fit to face Serena Williams for the women's title Saturday despite suffering a health scare Friday which caused her to cancel a scheduled news conference. After pulling out of her pre-final interview session, Radwanska confirmed she is fighting breathing problems and has been struggling to talk. “Unfortunately I have picked up upper respiratory illness, it's affecting my nose and throat,” she said. But the world number three's coach Tomasz Wiktorowski expects the Pole to recover in time for the biggest match of her life. “She's still sick, we're trying to do the best to bring her back to health for the match,” Wiktorowski told BBC Radio Five Live. “As you know what can we do? With the anti-doping policy we have to obey all the rules. We can't use all the medications in the shops. We can just use garlic, hot tea with honey, aspirin...nothing else. “I think the worst day was during the quarterfinal for sure. That was the worst day and the night. She is getting better but very slowly. She is very strong girl it is not such a big problem. To retire and cancel the final...not at all.” Radwanska, the first Polish Grand Slam finalist for 73 years, had to cut short her media duties on Thursday after beating Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 in the Wimbledon semifinals. The 23-year-old – a Wimbledon junior champion in 2005 – was so badly troubled by a cough during the 10-minute session that she had to call a premature halt to proceedings after several sips of water failed to ease the problem. Williams insists she will have to deliver the performance of a lifetime to win her fifth Wimbledon title. Serena is widely expected to overpower Radwanska. Azarenka is the reigning Australian Open champion and one of the more powerful strokemakers on the women's tour, but even the Belarusian could do nothing to avoid being battered into submission as Serena hammered down a record 24 aces. Serena served more aces in one set against Azarenka than Radwanska has managed in the entire tournament. That formidable weapon combined with her wealth of experience – this is Serena's 18th Grand Slam final but the first for Radwanska – make it easy to see why the sixth seed is heavily favored to clinch her 14th major title. But Serena, the first 30-year-old to reach the Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf in 1999, has too much respect for Polish third seed Radwanska to be drawn into the hype that has her already crowned champion. “Radwanska has been playing well. She's been consistent this year, more consistent than I have,” Serena said. “That tells me I really need to go out there and be ready to hit a lot of shots and be ready to play hard. “She has great hands and she does everything so well. If I come out flat, I won't win.” Serena has hit a total of 85 aces in the tournament which would put her into second place on the men's list where only Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber has notched more with 98. But Radwanska, who beat Germany's Angelique Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to become the first Polish Grand Slam finalist for 73 years, is a superb counter-puncher capable of extending rallies long enough to force crucial errors. With that in mind, Serena believes just relying on her serve would be too one-dimensional against an opponent as cunning as Radwanska. “I think if I try to do too much overpowering I can be led to a lot of errors, so I don't know about that,” she said. “I think my biggest challenge is Agnieszka is really good at everything. She has unbelievable hands. She's running every ball down. “It's going to be challenging. It's not easy at all. She's already ranked ahead of me, so I think it will be a really good match.” — Agencies
