Ágnes Szávay born December 29, 1988) is a professional tennis player from Hungary. She is the country's second highest ranked tennis player. She was the WTA Newcomer of the Year in 2007. She achieved her career high ranking of World No. 13 on April 14, 2008. As of July 13, 2009, she is ranked World No. 27. Szávay was born in Kiskunhalas, Hungary and grew up in Soltvadkert, Hungary. She started to play tennis at the age of six, with her parents acting as her first coaches and managers. Her previous coaches were Zoltán Újhidy, Levente Barátosi, and Miklós Hornok. Currently, her coaches are József Bocskay and Zoltán Kuharszky. She has a younger sister, Blanka, who is five years younger than her and currently plays on the junior circuit.
Szavay began the year by competing in the JB Group Classic exhibition event in Hong Kong, representing Europe. She then played the Moorilla Hobart International tournament as the fifth seed. She lost in the first round to the United Kingdom's Anne Keothavong 6–3, 7–5. At the Australian Open, Szávay was seeded 23rd in women's singles but lost in the first round to Galina Voskoboeva 6–3, 3–6, 6–4.
In February, Szávay played in Fed Cup for Hungary, losing for the second time in 2009 to Keothavong 6–3, 6–2. Szávay, with doubles partner Katalin Marosi, also lost against Mel South and Sarah Borwell 6–4, 6–3 and the United Kingdom won the tie 3–0.[5] The next tie was against Luxembourg. Szávay beat Mandy Minella 6–0, 6–1, and in doubles, Szávay and Marosi beat Minella and Claudine Schaul 6–3, 6–0, giving Hungary a 2–1 win in the tie.[6]
Her next tournament was the GDF Suez Open, held on indoor courts in Paris. In 2008 Szávay was the runner up, but in 2009 she lost in the first round Li Na 7–6(6), 6–2. Szavay then played in Dubai losing to Frenchwoman Camille Pin 2-6 6-2 6-3, continuing her torrid form. Her next event was the Abierto Mexicano Telcel tournament in Acapulco. Despite losing in qualifications, Szávay entered the main draw as a lucky loser and got off to an encouraging start by beating Anna Orlik in the first round (7-5 7-5). She then had her best win for over 6 months with a 76(1) 64 victory over Italian Roberta Vinci. She then lost to eventual champion Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 6-1. Szavay then played in Monterrey defeating Frenchwoman Pauline Parmentier in the 1st round 6-2 6-2, showing signs of slowly getting back to form but lost to Vania King after leading a set and 4-1, 3-6 6-4 6-3. Szávay continued to show signs of a return to form at the mandatory tournament in Indian Wells. She beat Edina Gallovits 6-2, 6-2 and Kristina Barrois 6-3, 6-4. However, against the tenth ranked player in the world, Agnieszka Radwanska, Szávay once again showed she is lacking confidence, as she lost 6-0, 5-7, 6-3, having led 3-1 in the third set with four points to go ahead 4-1 on Radwanska's serve. In Miami, she continued to show sings of playing better, defeating Francesca Schiavone 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 and then seventh-seeded Ana Ivanovic 6-4, 4-6, 6-1. She fell in the fourth round to eventual champion Victoria Azarenka 6-2, 6-4. After a three week break, she returned in Stüttgart, beating Ai Sugiyama in the first round and losing to Elena Dementieva in the second round.
At the Madrid Masters, Szavay upset Flavia Pennetta in the first round. She defeated Aravane Rezai in the second round in three sets and then beat No. 9 in the world Victoria Azarenka in the third round, before eventually losing to Amelie Mauresmo, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.
At the 2009 French Open, Szavay was seeded 29th and upset world No. 3 Venus Williams, beating her 6-0, 6-4 in the 3rd round. She was defeated 6-2, 6-4 by Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia in the 4th round.
Szavay was seeded 30th at the 2009 Wimbledon Championships, but was eliminated in the first round by Kirsten Flipkens. Szavay then won her third title of her career in her hometown at 2009 GDF SUEZ Grand Prix defeating top seed Patty Schnyder in final.She was defeated in first round at Los Angeles by Elena Vesnina.She reached second round at 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open.She was defeated by Flavia Pennetta.She then reached second round at 2009 Rogers Cup where she fell to Agnieszka Radwanska.She fell in first round at 2009 US Open to Shahar Peer.Agnes qualified for the 2009 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.
