WTA: Angie Kerber does not want to be thrown back by defeat

Angelique Kerber has started her lawn season with a negative experience. The first round defeat at the Mallorca Open will not unsettle the world ranking elves with regard to Wimbledon (from July 2).

By Ulrike Weinrich from Santa Ponsa/Majorca

A good half an hour after their first defeat of the season, Kerber sat on the terrace of the former Santa Ponsa Country Club. The bright sun could not brighten their mood at first. Of course, the 30-year-old was visibly disappointed by her 7:5, 2:6, 1:6 against the strongly playing qualifier Alison Riske (USA).

But she also made every effort not to overestimate the earliest knockout in such a good year so far. Although, admittedly, he surprised her – on grass, of all things, on the lush green, one of her favourite surfaces, on which she was in the Wimbledon finale in 2016. And who is very responsive to her style of playing, beating with a low center of gravity.

“I don’t think that defeat will set me back. I’m not making a big deal out of it now, we just have the switch from sand to grass,” said Kerber and after her eleventh defeat in the 44th match of the season (including the Hopman Cup) was quite self-critical: “I wasn’t able to pick up on my performance today as I thought.

Angie” had to give up her serve seven times and in only 36 percent of the cases made the point “if she had to come through the second service.

Especially with the continuation of the matches postponed the evening before due to darkness at the score of 1:1 in the third set, Kerber found no means at all against the world rankings-61st risk. The German number one did not play a single game in the second part of the hanging game.

After the negative experience of Mallorca, she now wants to tackle the tournaments in Eastbourne (from June 25th) and Wimbledon with her sand court “tactics” – related to the attitude. “I try not to pressure myself and not to have high expectations.”

Kerber had started the weeks on the unloved ash, her weakest surface, with the same intention. Ultimately with a better result than expected (including quarter-finals at the French Open and in Rome). However, they have experts like Toni Nadal (“Angie” has very good chances of winning the tournament in Wimbledon”) on the list of top favourites for the classic on Church Road.

Despite Wednesday’s disappointment, she takes something positive with her from the holiday island of Mallorca. “I had a good week of training here. Of course, the match didn’t have the result I had hoped for,” said Angie, but didn’t panic: “This was my first game on grass this season. And now I have a little time before Wimbledon.”

The love for grass did not suffer under the opening out of Santa Ponsa. “I’m glad we’re playing on grass right now. Of course the conditions here were a little different than in Wimbledon because of the weather. But they play on grass in London as well. From the ball feeling it is relatively the same”, Kerber emphasized, who did not yet know whether she will train on Mallorca or fly straight to the island in the next days.