Angelique Kerber continues to ride the wave of success at the Australian Open and is in the Melbourne semi-finals. The regained desire and the new way of dealing with pressure have long since made the Kieler the number one contender for the title.
From Ulrike Weinrich from Melbourne
Asked about her role as the tournament’s favourite, Angelique Kerber did not attach too much importance even after another impressive demonstration of her regained strength:”I’m not under any pressure anymore, I did that last year,”she said,”and that was what stood in my way most”.
The “Angie 2.0″ thinks positively after a painful but inevitable development phase in 2017 and is self-confident:”I’m proud of how the last few weeks have gone,”said Kerber after 6-1,6-2 in the quarter-finals against Madison Keys. The 51-minute lesson at Rod Laver Arena will not be forgotten by the US Open Finalist from Florida,”She has played against me more aggressively today than ever before. I had no answer to that question,”Keys praised Kerber’s confident appearance in her living room. It was her 14th. Victory in 14. Match 2018 – and the daily The Age wrote:”Kerber destroyed keys and is now certainly the favorite for the tournament victory.”
In the match for the jump into her first major finale since September 2016, the 30-year-old will face top seed Simona Halep, who defeated Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic (No. 6)6:3,6:2 in her quarter-finals. In the other qualifying round, Caroline Wozniacki (No. 2) from Denmark and Elise Mertens (Belgium) from the tournament will face each other.
In any case, Barbara Rittner firmly believes in the continuation of the Kerber Festival in the Australian high summer “Angie appears confident and plays freely. If she manages to stay that easy, she’s the best player in the field. But of course it won’t get any easier…”, said Rittner, Head of Women’s Tennis at the DTB, in a tennisnet interview on Wednesday. The former Fed Cup boss enjoys every performance of the former number one:”It’s so much fun to see her freed after the difficult year 2017,”says Rittner.
Kerber is finally back in enjoyment mode. It is a situation that she wanted to enforce with all means in the past season, but it has become more and more tense. A vicious circle. In the meantime, she is “100 percent sure”that she has made the “right decisions” in the off-season. This included the change of coach to Wim Fissette. She had to be ready for a new speech. Not an easy undertaking, but Kerber gradually opened up to input. Angie is in a condition in which she always believes in herself at every stage of a game,”praised the Belgian Fissette, who is still unbeaten in the team with Kerber.
The left-handed woman has rediscovered confidence in her game. I don’t think too much during the game and I don’t think too much about what was and what’s coming,”Kerber said. The Sydney winner knows that she can win the tight matches again and has returned to the big stage.
Perhaps it’s no coincidence that the two-time major champion has managed to turn the corner in Australia of all places. It’s always important to me that I feel comfortable outside the court,”said Angie, who knows Melbourne very well. The Yarra River, the beautiful cafés in the city centre and the high esteem of the fans. The overall package is right down under. A bonus as well: With her semi-final entry she returns to the top ten after the Happy Slam and is the German number one again ahead of Julia Görges.
Kerber has long been a face of the Aussie Open 2018. Directly in front 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 the Kieler shows herself as a “title heroine” on the cover with an extremely aggressive expression. 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,”says Kerber. A painful one, but perhaps the basis for new high-flying flights.
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