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Radwanska upset at naked photoshoot reaction

Agnieszka Radwanska poses for ESPN Magazine © ESPN

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Agnieszka Radwanska has said she is surprised at the reaction in Poland after posing nude for ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue.

Radwanska was photographed naked while sitting beside a swimming pool filled with tennis balls, but in her home country the move was condemned by Catholic groups.

"I was little disappointed," Radwanska told Reuters. "I was really surprised about everything that happened afterward. The Catholics reacted like I did a photo shoot for a men's magazine. I was surprised because they didn't even know what exactly the photo shoot was."

Radwanska also defended herself on Facebook because she said there was a lot of disinformation.

"The press and subject in Poland was huge," she said. "It was just to show the people what the magazine actually was.

"To brand [the pictures] as immoral clearly does not take into account the context of the magazine. Moreover, they do not contain any explicit imagery whatsoever. I train extremely hard to keep my body in shape and that's what the article and the magazine is all about.

"I agreed to participate to help encourage young people, and especially girls, to exercise, stay in shape and be healthy."

Radwanska was condemned by youth group Krucjata Mlodych (Youth Crusade), who until now she was a representative for, who described the shoot as 'immoral behaviour' and immediately axed her from its campaigns. She had starred in an advertisement for the group where she spelt out 'Jesus' with tennis balls and told people not to be ashamed of their faith.

'It's a shame that someone who has declared their love for Jesus is now promoting the mentality of men looking at a woman as a thing rather than a child of God worthy of respect and love," fumed Catholic priest Father Marek Dziewiecki. "If she meets a man who she can truly love and establish a happy family and raise Catholic children, then she would probably have to hide these pictures from relatives."

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