Cincinnati: Kerber Interview
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her win in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open.
An interview with Angelique Kerber after her win in the semifinals of the Western & Southern Open.
MELBOURNE, Australia – Angelique Kerber, Garbiñe Muguruza and Simona Halep – Adidas brand ambassadors and top seeds at the Australian Open – chatted with media ahead of the year’s first Grand Slam.
Joined by Japanese rising star Naomi Osaka, the players took part in an Adidas event where they were put through their paces in a series of workouts at the National Tennis Centre.
After working up a sweat, Kerber, Muguruza and Halep discussed their chances at the Australian Open.
“Obviously I’m nervous, I mean it’s the first Grand Slam of the year,” Muguruza said. “I wanna do it so well, so I have to be calm sometimes. So hopefully I won’t get crazy.”
Watch the video above to hear from all the players, and check out the best photos of the event right here – courtesy of Fiona Hamilton and Tennis Australia:
We challenged Andrea Petkovic to the WTA Frame Challenge and, well, she tried her best.
Angelique Kerber has Saturday’s shot of the day at the Western & Southern Open.
Qualifier Elise Mertens pulls off the first big surprise of 2017, conquering No.3 seed Monica Niculescu to win her first WTA title at the Hobart International.
Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber are the first two women to qualify for the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global. The World No.1 and No.2 respectively, this marks the fourth consecutive year Serena has qualified for the Finals and the second straight year for Kerber. While their paths have crossed twice in their quest for Singapore, their roads have looked markedly different.
Though they’ve only faced off twice this season, the Williams-Kerber rivalry has defined the 2016 season. Their two meetings came on tennis’ biggest stages, in the final of the Australian Open and Wimbledon, with Kerber winning in Melbourne and Serena in London. Kerber’s consistent success at tour events has also allowed her to close the gap on Serena’s lead in the rankings, which seemed all but insurmountable a year ago. Serena currently has seven zero-pointers on her ranking, having missed the Asian Swing and WTA Finals last fall.
Serena’s season has been the more surgical of the two. She is 34-5 on the year, having made the final or better at five of the six tournaments she has played (not including the Olympics). She won two of them, Rome and Wimbledon. By winning at the All England Club in July, Serena matched Stefanie Graf’s Open Era record of 22 major singles title. At the upcoming US Open, where she will attempt to break the record, Serena will also match Graf for the most consecutive weeks at No.1, having spent 186 straight weeks in the top spot. After a near-historic season in 2015, the records just keep on coming for one of the game’s greatest of all time.
Kerber has been the workhorse this year, which comes to no one’s surprise given her reputation as one of the hardest workers in the game. After making the final of the Western & Southern Open this weekend, she now leads the tour with 47 wins in 2016. She has played 16 tournaments this season, making the final of five them, and won two titles at the Australian Open and Stuttgart. But it hasn’t just been about finals for Kerber. She’s consistently putting herself into the final four of the tour’s biggest events, all while also playing two rounds of Fed Cup for Germany:
Brisbane – Finalist
Australian Open – Champion
Miami – Semifinalist
Charleston – Semifinalist
Stuttgart – Champion
Wimbledon – Finalist
Montréal – Semifinalist
Olympic – Finalist (does not count towards qualification)
Cincinnati – Finalist
In all, Kerber is 7-3 against Top 10 opposition this season. No other Top 10 player has even had that many matches, let along equaled Kerber’s wins.
Current Top 5 vs. Top 10 opposition.
Serena: 5-2
Kerber: 7-3
Muguruza: 3-2
Radwanska: 2-3
Halep: 2-2
As the tour heads to the final Slam of the season at the US Open, Serena and Kerber are separated by less than 500 points in the Road to Singapore. This past weekend, Kerber came within one win of becoming the second German ever to become World No.1. Kerber will challenge for the No.1 ranking in New York as well.
Given how close the rankings are with just a few months left in the season, there’s a strong possibility that the coveted year-end No.1 ranking could come down to the wire at the WTA Finals in Singapore.
For Johanna Konta, the opening weeks of the new season could hardly have gone any better. Picking up from where she left off at the end of 2016, Konta has continued to rack up the wins and on Friday evening collected her second career title thanks to a dominant victory over World No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska at the Apia International Sydney.
Success in Sydney will have tasted particularly sweet for Konta, who was born in Sydney and learnt the game in the nearby suburb of Collaroy before moving to Britain as a teenager.
Her return to Australia’s cultural capital has afforded plenty of time to catch up with old friends and family, including elder sister Eva, who is married to AFL player Shane Mumford.
“I’m just really happy I get to stay here a little bit longer,” Konta said after her quarterfinal win over Daria Kasatkina.
“I think it’s more just about prolonging my stay here, more than anything, because I get to spend a bit more time with my sister.”
#SAPStatOfTheDay: @JoKonta91 did not drop a set ALL week en-route to @SydneyTennis Title! pic.twitter.com/AFZXwPPLua
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
However, with one piece of silverware in the bag the 25-year-old’s focus is now firmly set on the Australian Open, where she reached the semifinals 12 months ago. Friday’s draw handed her a first-round date against Kirsten Flipkens, with Caroline Wozniacki and Dominika Cibulkova also lurking in her quarter.
The last British player to win the tournament was Virginia Wade in 1972, and on current form, the Briton will fancy her chances against all-comers. Ever the consummate professional, though, she is taking nothing for granted: “I’m really pleased with just the amount of matches I have been able to play. Obviously how I have done here, I take it as a really positive thing, as a nice reward along the way for the hard work that myself and my team have put in every day.
“But it’s not a reflection of how next week will go, how the rest of the year will go. It’s back to everyday hard work, because that’s what dictates how I do.”
Perfect backhand down the line from @JoKonta91! ?
Wins @SydneyTennis Final Shot of the Day! pic.twitter.com/G6k8xrlTwx
— WTA (@WTA) January 13, 2017
A meticulous approach to each and every aspect of her game has characterized Konta’s rapid ascent of the tennis ladder. As impressive as her shotmaking is at times, her mental fortitude is arguably the cornerstone of her game.
During the off-season Konta parted ways with Esteban Carril, the coach who helped chart her passage from the outer extremities of the Top 100 to the game’s elite. Impressively, the changes behind the scenes – which also included the death of sports psychologist Juan Coto – do not seem to have jolted Konta from her unerring path to the game’s summit.
She is now working with the much-respected Wim Fissette, who looks to have successfully harnessed the career momentum that has helped her win 22 of her past 27 matches.
Fissette, who has worked with Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka and most famously Kim Clijsters, has a fine track record. In Konta he has another potential success story on his hands.
Very happy with winning the title @SydneyTennis pic.twitter.com/9RLwNPun4h
— Wim fissette (@wimfissette) January 13, 2017
The next step for his charge is Grand Slam glory. She has tasted it briefly, reaching the US Open fourth round twice, as well as last year’s run at Melbourne Park, and her consistency bodes well for another good showing over the coming fortnight.
“I do feel with myself that I am playing a good level. And the way it’s coming through, so far, is it’s been consistent over the last two weeks,” Konta said after beating Radwanska.
“But like I said, it’s no reflection of how the Australian Open will go… There are so many things that are a factor, and most importantly, I will continue to look at my health, happiness. And again, that will give me the best shot at trying to be consistent, like Aga. That’s pretty hard.”
She will begin her campaign on Tuesday, offering sufficient time to recover from her Sydney exploits. The conditions in Melbourne are likely to be every bit as brutal as they were in Sydney, where the WTA’s heat rule came into play on several occasions.
Konta began refueling for the battles ahead in the moments following the trophy ceremony, a British favorite getting her ready for the Antipodean press pack. “Because it’s quite late, I’m not too sure [what to eat]. I had a ham-and-cheese toasty, which was amazing!”
Not much has changed for Nicole Vaidisova. The former World No.7 is still traveling the globe, discovering new countries and cultures to explore.
But these days, the two-time Grand Slam semifinalist leaves her racquets at home.
“Ever since I decided, ‘This is it,’ I just wanted to take a breather and just really enjoy life,” she told WTA Insider. “It’s definitely different, going from the tour – where you’re on a set schedule and you know your whole year is going to be mapped out – to deciding what you want to do and feeling like doing and want to see.
“For example, I’ve always wanted to see Iceland; obviously there’s no tournament there, and it was really nice to be able to plan a trip, see something for the first time, and get my mind off tennis. It was a good time for me.”
There hadn’t been too many good times in the months leading up to her choice to conclude her second career. Close encounters with Ana Ivanovic and Simona Halep had gotten her close to the Top 200 in early 2015, but chronic injuries stunted her progress at every turn. For the 27-year-old, it began to feel as though there was little to life beyond fixing a broken body.
“It’s been a long time coming because I was dealing with so many injuries – repeat injuries – and I had to spend so much time at doctor’s offices and rehab facilities, trying new and different things that would end up not working.
“It got to the point where I was so worried about every pain and I said, ‘This is it.’ I don’t want to put my body through any more radiation or surgery, or any more poking and prodding. There’s only so much a person can take.
“It was just a vicious cycle.”
So…This has been one of the hardest words for me to write.After months and months of thinking and agonizing about this, I have decided to retire from professional tennis.It has been one of my hardest and most emotional decisions of my life.As many of you know,I have been struggling with various injuries on/off for the better part of the last 2 years and it has gotten to the point where I have spent more time in hospitals,physical therapy and doctors offices then on the court,playing the sport I love.This has been painful and exhausting,not just on my body,but on my mind as well and I have reached the point where I did not want to put my body throught it anymore.Coming to this final decision took me months,as even through all the ups and dows,it is a game I grew to love for what it is.Ever since I decided to come back 3 years ago,it has been a roller coaster ride of huge highs and lows,on and off the court.I am forever grateful and feeling so incredibly lucky to have had the unwavering support and uncoditional love of my family,friends,Daniel,as well as my medical and tennis team.Without them,it would have been imspossible to come back.My tennis career has been anything but ordinary,but above every opinion,comment and what ifs,I can proudly say it has been MINE.I do not regret any decision,good or bad,as it has made me the person I am today.As I close this chapter of my life,I look back in amazement at everything I was able to do.I am proud to have been able to compete with the best athletes in my sport and represent the Czech Republic,the country I love,in many fed cups and Olympics,it has been an honor.Finally,I can never thank all of you enough for all the support and words of encouragement that I have received over the years,it has meant the world to me and kept me going when I wanted to give up.Thank you,from the bottom of my heart,I will never be able to express enough gratitude to every single one of you,I am so honored. 20 years ago, this little girl had a dream,and today, I can say it has come true ❤️
The cycle began not long after the Miami Open, where she pushed Halep to three sets and appeared poised to rise up the rankings the way she did as a teenager, before a shoulder surgery took her off the tour in 2010. A second surgery proved necessary to kick start her comeback in 2014.
“The shoulder has always been in the back of my mind, because after two surgeries, it’s never going to be 100% again. I also don’t think it helped that I stopped for such a long time. Going from zero to 100, I don’t think my body reacted to it that well. I think all of the injuries after the shoulder had to do with that.
“But it was also a little bit of bad luck. I was feeling good about Miami and was practicing when I tore a tendon in my ankle, basically a week after. The same thing happened later with my wrist.
“The last two years was me playing for a couple of months, getting injured, and then trying to build back up from zero – going through rehab and getting back into shape again. It just takes so much out of a person to feel like you’re continuously starting over.”
A pattern of stops and starts gave way to more permanent pain, leading Vaidisova to reassess and, ultimately, retire.
“Bone spurs in my heels were basically the nail in the coffin, because they keep coming back – in both heels. Any athlete who’s had to deal with this knows it’s such a pain because you’re walking on them every day. I went from having therapy to having radiation on it. They weren’t really helping, and it became a cycle of getting rid of one, which would take six months, and then another would grow back on my outer heel.
“Even though I stopped playing, I still have to get laser treatments because growths on heels are so hard to get rid of. It affects you on a daily basis because you’re walking every day. I can’t really go running because that aggravates it.
“Right now, I’m not feeling so much of a time crunch where I need to fix it right this second just to compete, so I want to take a gentler approach where I can get rid of it over time and not really do anything invasive.”
Few would have predicted Vaidisova’s story would end this way, certainly not a 12 years ago, when she began her career as the sixth youngest WTA titlist in Vancouver, aged just 15.
Within a year of that initial breakthrough, the talented ballstriker was among the most consistent forces in tennis, winning three titles in three weeks, and getting within a game of the French Open final in 2006.
“I was so young,” she said of the fornight that saw her claim wins over Amélie Mauresmo and Venus Williams en route to the semifinals. “It was just so surreal. I couldn’t even believe it myself that I was there.
“I was just a young girl who couldn’t believe how far I’d come, and the players I’d beaten.”
A second semifinal appearance soon followed at the Australian Open, before injuries and inconsistencies caused a crisis of confidence.
“I think at that time, I really didn’t know myself, to be honest. I was really frustrated, not only being injured, but on the court, a lot of things in my personal and family life were not going good. I just wasn’t a happy person on the court, and it was making me miserable. I just needed to get away, and I didn’t know in that moment if I was going to come back or not.”
Three years of soul-searching led her back to the game; this time, it would be on her terms.
“When I was growing up as a child, it was just a given. This is what I did. I played tennis, and you don’t really think about what else could be out there, or if you really love it or not because this is just what you’re doing. You also get a little lost in the mentality where winning is everything, and moving on, wanting to do better from one tournament to the next, with better scores and better results.
“When I went through my surgeries and I didn’t play, I realized I missed it. I missed the game and really wanted to get back to playing. Through that, you realize if you really do love the game or not.”
Vaidisova plans to pursue new passions in the fall when she enrolls in university, but has an eye on remaining a part of the game in one way or another. Resolved not to regret, she hopes the next group of prodigies takes time to enjoy the view, even as they aspire to the tour’s more dizzying heights.
“I did what I could to really get myself healthy, fit, and ready to compete on that level, and it’s not always a fairytale. Sometimes things are just not meant to be.
“I just wish, that because it was so new, and everything was so intense, that I had more time to really enjoy it. I never really looked back and appreciated the moments where I was winning tournaments or doing well at the Grand Slams. In the moment, you’re going 100 miles an hour, and I was too young to really appreciate it for what it was in the way that I do now that I’m older.
“The field has gotten tougher overall; the girls are more athletic, and you have so many young girls charging up the rankings. It’s hard to step back and appreciate things when you’re younger and have a team, especially when a lot of them are family members. But I really wish I could say that to them – along with my younger self – to just enjoy and remember those moments.”
Photos courtesy of Getty Images.
Watch defending champion Angelique Kerber’s practice session ahead of the start of the Australian Open.
Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic take on Belinda Bencic and Ana Konjuh in the first round of the Australian Open.