WTA: Kerber learned from the crisis year:”I’ve matured”

Angelique Kerber has successfully started the new season with two victories at the Hopman Cup. In retrospect, the two-time Grand Slam winner also used her year of crisis in 2017 as a personal selection phase.

Already at the beginning of the mission new beginning Angelique Kerber caught the perfect wave. Perhaps a good omen for the season that has just begun. At the picturesque Trigg Beach of Perth, the surf debutante stayed on the board longer than the designated specialist Alexander Zverev at the first attempt. Whether in the water or on land – at the edge of the Hopman Cup on the Australian west coast, Kerber is relaxed and optimistic these days.

Two convincing appearances, in which the former number one in the world in terms of body language and guts once again reminded us of the “Angie” of 2016, made the positive overall impression perfect. On Friday, Kerber and Zverev will play against Australia at the unofficial Mixed World Championships for a place in the final.

And last year’s crisis season with the fall to 21st place in the rankings? The 29-year-old also used the difficult phase to find herself:”I learned a lot about myself. I took a big step in my personal development,”said Kerber in an interview with the women’s magazine Emotion. The last 24 months, in which she experienced stellar moments and bitter defeats, would have made her “more mature”.

After their two Grand Slam star classes in Melbourne and New York, the following year the relaxed atmosphere was simply gone. Just like in a final thesis, where you know you learn and learn and have to deliver,”Kerber said:” The mental aspect plays such a big role and the pressure was enormous. With every lost match he has built himself up. And I had the feeling all the time that I hadn’t yet properly processed my success.”

Dealing with the new situation, with its status as a face of the WTA tour, was initially difficult for the Kieler. The pressure from all sides weighed on her shoulders and her state of mind like ballast. Kerber took “every game to heart”. And that was obvious. With a little distance, she can rearrange things.

Sometimes life is like that,”you can’t let it get you down,”Kerber explained. In her dream season she had a record of 64:19 victories, twelve months later only 29:24 victories were recorded at Kerber. The self-critical left-hander was the most unhappy about it.

But Kerber has matured – and has drawn its conclusions for the following year. Her prudent manager Aljoscha Thron also served as advisor. The two-time winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix’ hired an experienced coach in Wim Fissette.

With a view to the new start, Kerber’s credo was:”I want to approach things more freely and calmly. Nevertheless, I would like to show what I have learned from the experiences of the last two years. In Perth, however, the first chapter of the mission “Back to the Future” was a resounding success.