WTA: After a weak season: Kerber announces “new directions

Angelique Kerber, after a disappointing season in a letter to her fans, drew an emotional conclusion and announced changes in view of the new year.

“Be sure – I will prepare myself with all my heart for 2018 and I will go new ways. For you, but also for me. Tennis is my passion,”the two-time Grand Slam winner wrote on her Facebook page on Monday.

The 29-year-old had started the season as number one and has meanwhile slipped to 21st place. Kerber said that it was also “these important experiences, the professional setbacks”, in which one learns “a great deal” about oneself. She let her supporters know that she had “taken a big step forward” in the last twelve months,”whereby the yardstick in my life is not always only the world ranking list”.

The Australian Open and US Open winner of 2016 is currently on holiday in the Seychelles. Kerber hadn’t won a tournament in 2017:”So much has happened in the last two years, and it’s true: old memories can inspire, but they can also be a stumbling block,”she wrote about the “of course not an easy last time”.

One’s own value as a person should not be defined by professional success,”but should be independent of it. As an athlete, you have to keep this in mind every now and then,”says Kerber.