The bookmakers rely on Serena Williams or Wimbledon winner Angelique Kerber. But Julia Görges can also play for the title in New York. If their development continues.
While shopping on the world-famous Fifth Avenue Julia Görges can meet herself at the moment. A sporting goods store in Midtown Manhattan advertises almost life-size in the shop window with Germany’s second-best tennis player.
It is recognition for their promotion, which reached its peak in the semi-finals of Wimbledon, but is far from over. Already at the US Open Görges is aiming for the next summit.
On Monday she will meet the Russian qualifier Anna Kalinskaya in New York (3rd match after 17:00 CEST). But her real competitors are Angelique Kerber or Serena Williams. Görges knows: After years of stalemate she has arrived among the title candidates, since Monday she is number 9 in the ranking, “a super event”, as she herself says, “the confirmation that she really made it into the top 10”.
This breakthrough had been a long time coming. Although Görges has been considered gifted since her professional debut more than ten years ago, neither her strong serve nor her massive forehand or the astonishingly precise volleys opened the door to the world’s top. Until Wimbledon in July, she had never made it beyond the round of 16 in 41 attempts at the Grand Slams, some experts even saw her as a double specialist.
“I have suffered some painful defeats, but I have proved that I can learn from them and achieve my goals,” said Görges on Saturday in New York. The learning effect has produced remarkable results. In the past 14 months, Görges has played in seven finals and triumphed in Moscow, Zhuhai and Auckland. Hardly any other player has been so consistently successful during this time.
Görges can name the reasons for her upswing in the advanced tennis age of 29 years quite precisely and likes to do so again and again. Two years ago, she left her comfort zone at home in northern Germany and found a new home in Regensburg. She wanted to “break new ground” in order to “exploit her full potential”. In trainer Michael Geserer and physiotherapist Florian Zitzelsberger, with whom she is also associated, Görges found the companions she needed.
“Putting the team together was the first big step towards where I am now,” said Görges. Together they worked consistently on fitness and mobility. One piece of the puzzle now reaches into the other, Görges is courageous and experienced enough to enforce his own decisions against the mainstream.
Unlike many top players, including Wimbledon winner Kerber, Görges competed in a preparation tournament the week before the US Open. The semi-final in New Haven brought her match practice and self-confidence. “I tried so many new things on the court that I might be able to include in my game on Monday,” she said.
If Görges’ development continues, there are no limits to her ascent. Then she can meet herself in Flushing Meadows at some point: in the ancestral gallery of all champions of the US Open.