Julia Görges and Angelique Kerber radiated great confidence one day before the start of the Fed Cup semi-final against the Czech Republic on Saturday (12:00) and Sunday (11:00/live at DAZN). Görges will open the duel with the ten-time title winner against Petra Kvitova, after which Kerber will play Karolina Pliskova.
By Ulrike Weinrich in Stuttgart
The arrival in Stuttgart’s city hall was symbolic. Julia Görges and Angelique Kerber came together with the paternoster to the third floor. The double top of the German team was also in complete agreement on the starting position in the duel with the Czech Republic shortly afterwards at the press conference in the city parliament’s meeting room.
“It will be a match at eye level. We want to push ourselves to the limit with the audience behind us and hopefully leave the field as winners,” said Kerber about the first home semi-final since 1994 – and pushed afterwards: “We believe in ourselves”.
At the draw shortly before, the two-time Grand Slam winner could not suppress a smile. “Angie” will play the second match of the day against world number six Karolina Pliskova on Saturday. “I don’t think I’ve ever played my first match in the Fed Cup,” she said.
It is the reissue of the 2016 US Open Final that Kerber won in Flushing Meadows almost two years ago. Kerber leads the duel with strong serve Pliskova, who would have loved to open the duel with the host with 7:3 victories. However, there has never been an exchange of blows on sand between the two.
The opening game, in which Görges challenges two-time Wimbledon winner Kvitova, also appears open. The direct balance speaks against “Jule” (1:4), but the form for the German number one. “Jule and Angie are in excellent shape. I am very happy that we will be able to do this,” emphasized the new team boss Jens Gerlach. The 44-year-old will make his home debut in his hometown of all places.
“I’m looking forward to hearing a new voice on the pitch,” said Kerber about the Swabian who replaced Barbara Rittner last late summer. The “Women’s Representative” of the DTB (Head of Women’s Tennis) continues to maintain close contact with the team, passes on her valuable experience and supports Gerlach in word and deed – without talking him into it. An apparently perfect constellation.
The final of 2014, however, no longer plays a role in the players’ minds. At that time, the DTB team had lost 1:3 against the Czech Republic. “It’s 2018. I don’t like living in the past, but rather looking ahead,” Görges said. Kerber believes, however, that the experiences in Prague have ultimately also made them more mature: “We learned a lot back then.