MELBOURNE, Australia — As Serena Williams recovered from a run at history that ended with the finish line in sight, Agnieszka Radwanska spent the months after the United States Open chasing titles all over Asia, winning in Japan, in China, in Singapore at the WTA Finals and, at the start of this year, again in China.
On the strength of her results over the past four months, Radwanska will rise to No. 3 in the new world rankings. But all those matches played and won while Williams sat helped Radwanska not one whit in their Australian Open semifinal on Thursday at Melbourne Park.