Angelique Kerber - Adapting to life at the top

2013 has been an interesting year for Angelique Kerber and her fans.  A season of consolidation, and finding out more about herself as a person and competitor; which culminated with a title and appearance at the WTA championships in Istanbul for a second consecutive year.

Recapping the 2013 season, it started off with a semifinal appearance in Sydney with a loss to Dominica Cibulkova then a 4th round defeat at the Australian Open to Ekaterina Makarova.  Angelique missed the Paris Indoors due to injury which meant she could not defend her title.  Angelique then lost early in Doha and Dubai before flying out to Monterrey, where she got to the final but lost out to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Forward to the hardcourts in North America where Angelique had mixed results, getting to the semifinals of Indian Wells and going out early in Miami.  The Indian Wells semifinal proved to be frustrating as Caroline Wozniacki resorted to employing some of the most defensive tactics ever seen in a tennis match to turn around a first set deficit in her favour.  

The clay and grass court seasons during spring and early summer didn’t go too well either, with semifinal defeats to Sharapova in Stuttgart and a quarterfinal loss in Madrid to Ana Ivanovic.  Angelique was then forced to pull out of the Foro Italico with an abdominal injury.  At the French Open, Angelique succumbed to former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets in the 4th round.   On the grass there were early exits at both Eastbourne and Wimbledon, tournaments she did extremely well in during 2012.  In fact, Angelique’s defeat to Kaia Kanepi at Wimbledon led to a strange episode on social networks which was certainly unwarranted.

Onwards and upwards to the hardcourt season we hoped, but the same trend continued of relatively early exits in Canada, Cincinnati and New Haven; her best result being a quarterfinal appearance in Washington.  Angelique’s poor form culminated with a 4th round defeat at the US Open to enigmatic Carla Suarez Navarro in a third set tiebreak.  

At this stage, things were not looking good, having dropped a lot of points from the 2012 season, she was in danger of dropping out of the top 10 for an extended period.  However, things turned around suddenly during the autumn hardcourt season in Asia; Angelique got to the final in Tokyo having taken out Radwanska and Wozniacki comfortably in the quarterfinal and semifinal.  The final against Petra Kvitova was incredibly the first all left handed final on the WTA tour since 2009.  It was an interesting match with Kvitova taking the first set easily but then losing the 2nd set to love before rallying to take the 3rd set 6-2. 

Angelique then came back to Europe where she requested a wildcard at the Generali Open in Linz, which she received at the last moment and played some lovely tennis to get to the final in convincing fashion.  In fact, by getting to the semifinal, Angelique ensured qualification for the WTA championships for the 2nd year in a row. In the final, Angelique played a highly entertaining match against Ana Ivanovic which she took in straight sets to win her first and only title of 2013. At the WTA championships in Istanbul, Angelique almost made it to the semifinals, but was again stopped in her tracks by the dangerous Petra Kvitova.

I think 2013 has been a great experience for Angelique Kerber.  She has gone through a unique period of learning about herself, managing disappointment, injuries, motivation, change of coaching setup and still found a way to finish the year on a relative high.  That is something which takes mental strength and character.  Angelique found out that it is one thing to get to the top 10, but an entirely different proposition to stay there when competitors are out to get your scalp.  That not only requires mental toughness but also the willingness to make adjustments to keep improving, which hopefully will bode well for the future.

Angelique was kind enough to take some questions before heading off for a well deserved vacation and preparations for the 2014 season.

1. Congratulations on a really good end to the season, getting to the final of Tokyo, winning Linz and qualifying for the WTA championships in Istanbul. You ran Petra Kvitova close and could have made the semifinals. What do you attribute the upturn in results to?

I have been lucky not to be injured even if my abs have suffered a bit after Tokyo. I, of course, worked hard and learned from every matches, practiced my serve, done a lot of fitness.

My team was behind me and I’ve worked hard on being clear mentally, on handling the pressure better, on being more composed and it kind of worked. I believe it’s important to work a lot on giving a particular attention to your mental condition also. Making sure nothing goes into your mind that could potentially hinder your game.

 2. Following on, it’s been a tough year, you had a breakthrough year in 2012. How different has it been trying to consolidate your position in the top 10?

I believe and experience it is harder to remain on the Top 10 rather than to get there. Both requires a huge amount of work but the expectations you have from you, your fans, family, friends, team is higher and these added pressure is sometimes tough to handle.

 

3. You seem to have a new coaching set up, are you looking to add new things to your game than a year or two ago?

Of course! Who does not want to keep improving? I want to go deeper on Grand Slam and important tournaments. I want to be able to play more and more matches against Top players. Ranking wise, becoming a consistent Top 10 is obviously important for me as well as growing and maybe reach the Top 5.

4. It’s a special year for the WTA tour as it celebrates 40 years of existence, how does it feel to be part of making history on the tour?

It’s amazing what Billie Jean King has made for women’s tennis and being part of it, growing in the middle of so many talented athletes who have made history is huge.

5. Switching to your game, I think you are one of the best movers and defenders on a tennis court. You are also great at hitting down the lines; I think you can take advantage of that by coming to net more often when you stretch your opponent.

Is the transition game a tactic you favour and do you see yourself using that play to shorten the points more often, especially at key moments?

That is something I will discuss with my coach during my pre-season. My head now is more looking at my vacation and the few weeks I will spend without thinking or even playing tennis ;-)

 

6. You have made two major semifinals at the US Open and Wimbledon in 2011 and 2012. How do you see your chances of going one step further and making a final in 2014 and beyond?

I’ll work hard for that anyway and we’ll see if I can handle the pressure, play well and

consistent, beat strong top players... Hopefully then, it can happen... Step by step...

 7. Marion Bartoli, one of my favourite players grabbed the opportunity to claim Wimbledon this summer, drawing from her experience of 2007. Francesca Schiavone did something similar at Roland Garros in 2010 and Sam Stosur at the US Open in 2011. How much of an inspiration was Marion’s win to yourself and other players that it is possible to win a big title even if you are not top seed?

There are always possibilities. Marion was a good player and I’m glad she got a chance to win a Grand Slam, which was her goal, before retiring.

I’m focusing on myself, my game and really believe that if you work hard, it will pay back. I take one think at a time. I try not to put too much pressure on myself. I work hard for that but also need to enjoy being on court and play and learn and grow.

8. Collectively all of the young German players haven’t had as much success as fans were hoping this year. There is a lot of talent among the players who make up the Fed cup squad, how do you feel about prospects to do well in the Federation cup in 2014?

Our goal as a team is to be able to bring a title to Germany. We are really working hard for that with Barbara and the team. We feel fan’s expectation and will give everything we have to potentially fulfil it. Hopefully 2014 will be our year... ;-)