Angelique Kerber enjoys her popularity in Australia. Before the quarter-final against Madison Keys on Wednesday, the Kieler withdrew to recharge her batteries.
From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
Angelique Kerber is now focusing on a contrast programme as a strategy for success. Sometimes she baths in the cheers of the fans, sometimes she dives down to recharge her batteries for her special comeback mission. On the day before the quarter-finals against Madison Keys (USA/No. 17) on Wednesday, she avoided Melbourne Park and completed her preparation program with her team around coach Wim Fissette off the track.
Kerber doesn’t want to risk anything to keep the focus. Because the danger of distraction, which is especially down under for the 30-year-old is not insignificant. Since their triumph at the Happy Slam two years ago, the Australians have taken Angie to heart.
“I can tell. When I’m on the road, a lot more people recognize me than before 2016. And when it comes to training, too, many more fans are watching,”said the left-handed woman, who has long since discovered her love for the other end of the world:”I value Australia so much. It’s one of my favorite countries, I just feel totally at home here,” she experienced her very personal moon landing 24 months ago on Batman Avenue directly on the Yarra River and won her first major title.
Kerber is one of the faces of the Aussie Open 2018 before her first Grand Slam quarter-finals in about 16 months. Directly in front of the 15,000 spectators of the Rod Laver Arena is a large advertising wall on which she and the Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal advertise the official video game of the tournament.
It fits the picture that Kerber appears as a “title heroine” on the cover with an extremely aggressive expression. In her 13 matches of the season so far, she has shown the regained bite, which she has all won. This makes her the most successful player of the season so far – and not least for this reason she is the tournament’s favourite. Especially since Elina Svitolina (Ukraine/No. 4), also a highly traded Elina Svitolina, lost 4-6,0-6 against the unseeded Belgian Elise Mertens in the quarter-finals on Tuesday.
Whether she’s even better than 2016, Kerber was asked on Monday after her victory in the last sixteen against Taiwanese Su-Wei Hsieh (4:6,7:5,6:2), who is playing very well,”I don’t know, the season has just begun”. Angie is ready to fly,”wrote the Herald Sun – and I think she said,” Ready to fly “.
I want to control my emotions even more,”betrayed the Fed Cup player, who shouted out her temporary frustration in a duel with Hsieh. However, a test of patience like against Taiwaneskin, the bag of wonders with two-handed forehand, is not expected in the match for the semi-final on Wednesday.
If Kerber wins the next match against US open-finalist Keys, she will be number one in Germany again and return to the top 10. She won six of seven duels against the hard-hitter from Rock Island, who is coached by Dieter Kindlmann from Munich and the former number one Lindsay Davenport.
The aggressive gameplay of the world rankings-20. is the counter-player Kerber, who seems to be completely relaxed these days. On Australian TV she told about her hobby – photographing sunsets all over the world.
Also on the St. Kilda Beach has already drawn her smartphone to expand her “Sunset”collection of pictures. No doubt about it: Kerber has found her inner peace. This is not because the obligations outside the tennis court have decreased. However, she has now learned to deal with it and enjoy it more openly and successively.
The disorientation and emptiness that paralysed them last year gave way to a new desire for further great deeds.”2017 was a learning process for me,” Angie confirmed. It appears to be harvesting its first fruits as early as the beginning of 2018.
The two semi-finals will be played on Thursday. Kerber’s opponent in the preliminary round would be either Simona Halep (Romania) or Karolina Pliskova (No. 6) in the event of a success against Keys.
The Czech had been defeated by Kerber in the US Open Final 2016. Perhaps a good omen! From Thursday to Sunday, the second heat wave of the tournament is expected in Melbourne with temperatures of up to 39 degrees Celsius.
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