After a short detour to Weissach at the Porsche Night of Champions, Angelique Kerber now enters the second phase of her preparation for the season in Puszczykowo.
The leg work is right, at least Angelique Kerber on Instagram has already revealed this. The two-time major champion has prepared herself for the upcoming tasks on Lanzarote during the last days and will be the final spurt of the off-season at home Puszczykowo. Before that, however, Kerber made a stop in Weissach at the Porsche Night of Champions. And in ex-Formula 1 driver Mark Webber found a partner who shows a rather casual hip swing.
For Angelique Kerber, however, the seriousness of sporting life begins with the Hopman Cup in Perth – although the mixed team competition is not relevant for the WTA world ranking. Nevertheless, Kerber will be looking for a good start to the season alongside Alexander Zverev, especially in Australia, where she won her first big triumph against Serena Williams almost two years ago. In the previous year, Zverev started in Perth with Andrea Petkovic as her partner.
By 2017, however, the then number one in the world had begun the season as usual in Brisbane, where Elina Svitolina was defeated in the final eight. One week later, in Sydney’s first match against Daria Kasatkina from Russia, the match ended. The attempted title defence in Melbourne ended with a defeat against the American Coco Vandeweghe. What followed was ten months at a lower level than in the career year 2016. At the end of the year, there was only a final in Monterrey, where Kerber Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova was defeated. Angelique Kerber hibernated in the world rankings as number 21, but it was enough for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai.
Incidentally, the appointment with her long-standing partner Porsche was the only one Angelique Kerber made during this preparation period. The full concentration is on the coming season, which she will see with Wim Fissette at her side. Fissette, who once led Justine Henin to the top of the world and Sabine Lisicki to the final of Wimbledon, was also on Lanzarote alongside the German number two during the two week.
The departure to Perth is at 26. Two days before, Kerber and the family indulge in the Christmas tradition: with a carp.