Angelique Kerber gained a lot of self-confidence at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix thanks to a sovereign one-two against the Czech Petra Kvitova. On Thursday evening from 6.30 pm (live at DAZN), the 30-year-old will meet Estonian Anett Kontaveit in Stuttgart. In the next round, the second seeded Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza (Spain) could theoretically wait.
By Ulrike Weinrich from Stuttgart
Actually, Angelique Kerber is not particularly superstitious. At least not as much as Nicolas Kiefer, for example. “Kiwi” was once asked how he would classify his “Superstition” on a scale from ONE to TEN. “My superstition is…ELF,” the former world-class player had said. And he was quite serious.
Maybe the scale of “Angie” has shifted a little bit. After the disappointing course of the Fed Cup weekend with a 4-1 defeat in the semi-final against the Czech Republic, she changed hotels within Stuttgart before the tournament began. “That was the reason,” Kerber joked on Wednesday evening with a view to her impressive 6-3, 6-2 review in a left-handed duel with eighth seeded Kvitova.
Knowing that wasn’t even half the truth. Three days after their clear 2:6, 2:6 defeat against the world ranking tenth, Kerber appeared to the 4500 spectators in the sold-out Porsche Arena as if transformed: Self-confident, sparkling – and successful.
“I tried to be more aggressive from the start than I was on Sunday, take the game in my hand and be directly present from the serve – just like on the return,” said Kerber, who had analysed the negative experience against Kvitova over the weekend with her coach Wim Fissette (“Sand can make her a better player”): “I can see the clay court feeling coming slowly.
However, the two-time Grand Slam winner did not want to relativize her modest goals on the unloved ashes despite her courageous appearance. “It’s just the beginning of the clay court season, I still have no great expectations. It’s just important to me to play as many matches as possible before the French Open,” Kerber said.
However, the woman from Kiel seems to have arrived in her oasis of well-being after a few days of acclimatisation. “I’ve already triumphed twice here in this hall. So I know how to do it,” she said!” And the team behind the team gives additional reason for confidence.
Mother Beata and sister Jessica are there – and of course Grandma Maria, who came from Poland. She also sat in the pits when her granddaughter won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2015 and 2016 and rapidly drove the powerful winning car across the Centre Court after the final. “It’s always something special when the family is here. Unfortunately this is not possible that often”, stressed Kerber, who is again the German number one ahead of Julia Görges (Bad Oldesloe) from Monday.
For her divided relationship to the red ashes, “Angie” then also has an explanation that is as simple as it is plausible: “When you come back to sand, you have in mind the memories of the year before and the last two or three years. And I didn’t have the best memories – except here in Stuttgart, of course.” However, the relatively fast surface at the Premier Event cannot be compared to the grainy track in Madrid, Rome or Paris, where, of course, they play outdoors.
Speaking of Rome. At Foro Italico, a stone’s throw from the Olympic Stadium, Kerber lost his only comparison to Kontaveit (WTA No. 31) in May 2017 – 4-6, 0-6, when the former world number one was completely out of place. The game was one of several prime examples of their crisis last season.
“It will be a very different match from back then,” promised Kerber, who has long since found her way back to success in 2018. The difficult phase left its mark, also in a positive sense: “Last year made me stronger. I’ve matured as a person, too.”
And a romantic like her has not yet given up her belief in a good relationship with the ashes: “Maybe,” unkte Kerber, “I will make friends with the sand again at some point. Who knows.”