Angelique Kerber’s trip to the French Open ended in the quarter-finals again against the Romanian Simona Halep. Nevertheless, the keeler from Paris is taking a lot of momentum with her into the upcoming grass court season.
Angelique Kerber didn’t really want to think about the upcoming lawn season. After losing to Simona Halep in the quarter-finals of the French Open, the Kiel-based player wanted to take her time to take stock of her overall successful performance in Paris. “I’m still here,” she said, referring to her hopes and wishes for the coming weeks: “I won’t think of Wimbledon and grass for a few days. “I’m going to rest for a while.”
But after the reporters wouldn’t let up, Kerber finally dared to look a little bit ahead. Of course she is looking forward to playing on grass again, the 30-year-old admitted – of course also to the climax at the major tournament in London at the beginning of July. “Wimbledon is one of the most famous Grand Slams, one of the most traditional,” Kerber said: “I have played well there in recent years and would like to do so again.
The two-time major winner also wants to live off the momentum she picked up in Paris on her way to Roland Garros’ second quarter-final. Even if the Romanian world number one Halep, as in the Australian Open semi-final in January, was just in front again and lost 7:6 (7:2), 3:6, 2:6 after a good start. Their performances in Paris have nevertheless given Kerber further impetus. “I think I can take a lot with me,” she said.
Kerber, it became clear again in Paris, has left her epidemic year 2017 behind her. For good. Mentally and physically. If the good start to the year, including the semi-final entry in Melbourne, could have been seen as an outlier, the overall good clay court season shows that it has actually stabilised again at a high level. “I said I wanted to develop myself as a player,” she said: “I think I did it.”
After a somewhat arduous start at the Fed Cup semi-finals and the subsequent home tournament in Stuttgart, Kerber has reconciled himself with the once unloved underground, above all through his successful performances in Paris. The mental blockage that their game does not work as well on sand as on other surfaces seems to be solved. “For me it was a step forward,” she said: “But I’m looking forward to the sand season coming to an end and the grass is back.”