Angelique Kerber (30) plans to return to the top of the world after the successful first half of the 2018 tennis year.
“Their goal is to one day be number one again and deal with it differently than last year,” said Kerbers Belgian coach Wim Fissette (38) in an interview on the WTA homepage.
After flying high two years ago with two Grand Slam titles, Olympic silver and the leap to first place, Kerber fell into crisis in 2017. “Angie has learned a lot in the past,” said Fissette: “She wanted to show everyone that she is still a great player and her career is not over yet. She works hard and is very ambitious, even on sand, which is not easy for her.”
Kerber has been waiting for a victory at the French Open in Paris, which starts on Sunday, since 2015. Fissette, who enjoyed Kerbers dress rehearsal for Roland Garros, said that she did not start the sand season with much self-confidence this year either. In Rome, the Kieler was only eliminated in the quarter-finals against the later tournament winner Elina Svitolina from the Ukraine.
“She had four matches and played better in each. She showed the game she needs to be successful on clay,” said Fissette, who led Romania’s Simona Halep to the final in Paris in 2014.
Kerber is currently in twelfth place in the world rankings and can return to the top 10 with a few wins in Paris. At the beginning of the season she had won the WTA tournament in Sydney and reached the semi-finals at the Australian Open in Melbourne.