Angelique Kerber has continued her triumphal march at the Australian Open thanks to another impressive performance and is in the Melbourne semi-finals. The Kieler defeated Madison Keys (USA/No. 17) after another demonstration of her own strength 6:1,6:2.
From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
With her first semi-final appearance in a major since her US opener triumph in September 2016, Kerber will definitely return to the top ten of the world rankings after the end of the tournament and will once again be Germany’s number one. In the Rod Laver Arena, the 30-year-old was once again strong as a bear and will remain without defeat in 2018 (14-0 wins).”I’m just happy. I have a lot of fun and such a great memory of this tournament and this court,”she said after the lesson.
Kerber will now face either top seeded Simona Halep (Romania) or US open finalist Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic on Thursday. In the other qualifying round, Caroline Wozniacki (No. 2) from Denmark and Elise Mertens (Belgium) from the tournament will face each other.
Kerber returned with a smile to the 15,000 spectator Centre Court, where she witnessed her very personal moon landing two years ago and won her first Grand Slam title. New York finalist Keys’s first service game was the left-handed left-hander as she scored her fourth break ball. The American, who is supervised by Dieter Kindlmann from the Allgäu and former number one Lindsay Davenport, tried to take over the initiative immediately after the serve, but Kerber did not give her any easy points.
Only four Unforced Errors were allowed by the two-time Grand Slam winner in the first set (a total of seven). After only 22 minutes, Kerber took the lead when Keys pulled out a forehand and stared depressed and helplessly into her box. As a result, the hard-hitter from Florida, who had previously only been able to win one of seven comparisons with the Germans, was able to minimize her error rate.
At least for a short time a duel developed at eye level, but Kerber remained the more effective player and also led fast in the second set with 3:0. Shortly afterwards,”Angie” had to give up her serve for the first time, and Keys was able to cut back to 2:3 a little later. Especially in the long rallies, however, the dominance of the boundlessly solid Kerber continued to be evident, who won the first of two match points with fine praise. After only 51 minutes, Keys with a total of 25. the one-sided game in favour of the tournament winner of 2016.
These days, Kerber is relying on a contrast program as its strategy for success. Sometimes she baths in the cheers of the fans, sometimes she dives down to recharge her batteries for her special comeback mission. The day before the quarter-finals, she avoided Melbourne Park and completed her preparatory programme with her team around coach Wim Fissette off the track.
Kerber doesn’t want to risk anything to keep the focus. Because the danger of distraction, which is just down under for them is not insignificant. Since their triumph at the Happy Slam two years ago, the Australians have taken Angie to heart,”I can tell. When I’m on the road, a lot more people recognize me than before 2016. And when it comes to training, too, many more fans are watching,”said the left-handed woman, who has long since discovered her love for the other end of the world:”I value Australia so much. It’s one of my favorite countries, I just feel totally comfortable here.”
Kerber has long been a face of the Aussie Open 2018. Directly in front of the Rod Laver Arena is a large advertising wall on which she and the Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal advertise the official video game of the tournament. It fits the picture that Kerber appears as a “title heroine” on the cover with an extremely aggressive expression. I want to control my emotions even more,”revealed the Fed Cup player, who in the third round had also clearly declassified Maria Sharapova from Russia in two sets.
Kerber seems completely relaxed these days. On Australian TV she told about her hobby – photographing sunsets all over the world. Also on the St. Kilda Beach has already drawn “Angie” the smartphone to expand her “Sunset”collection of pictures. No doubt about it: Kerber has found her inner peace. This is not because the obligations outside the tennis court have decreased. However, she has now learned to deal with it and enjoy it more openly and successively.
The disorientation and emptiness that paralysed them last year gave way to a new desire for further great deeds.”2017 was a learning process for me,” Angie confirmed. It appears to be harvesting its first fruits as early as the beginning of 2018.