Angelique Kerber

Angelique Kerber (German: [ʔan.d͡ʒɛˈliːk ˈkɛɐ̯bɐ] ; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Kerber won 14 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2016 Australian Open, 2016 US Open, and 2018 Wimbledon Championships. She also won a silver medal in women's singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

An accomplished left-handed player, Kerber made her professional debut in 2003 and came to prominence by reaching the semifinals of the 2011 US Open as the world No. 92. Kerber first cracked the top 5 in the rankings in 2012 and would eventually become the world No. 1 on 12 September 2016, becoming the 22nd and oldest player to achieve the top ranking for the first time. Following a maternity leave, Kerber retired from the sport after the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Early life

Kerber was born on 18 January 1988 in Bremen to Polish-German parents Sławomir Kerber, from Poznań, and Beata (née Rzeźnik), who is also her manager. She has one sister, Jessica. She grew up in Kiel, where her family stayed in an apartment in a training academy where her parents work, and started playing tennis at age three, eventually joining the junior circuit. Although born right-handed, Kerber plays left-handed.

Career

2003–2011: First WTA Tour final and US Open semifinals

Kerber made her first attempt to qualify for a WTA tournament in January 2005, at the Auckland Open, falling to Janette Husárová in the final round. In 2007, she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the French Open where she lost to 13th seed Elena Dementieva in the opening round. Shortly after, she appeared in the main draw of a WTA tournament for the first time, in Birmingham, where she reached the third round, losing to fifth seed Marion Bartoli, who was the eventual runner-up at Wimbledon that year. The week after Birmingham, she reached her first main draw quarterfinal at the Rosmalen Open where she was beaten by eventual champion Anna Chakvetadze, and then fell to Chakvetadze once more, in the first round of Wimbledon. At the US Open, Kerber drew Serena Williams in the first round and lost in straight sets. Kerber achieved her first top-100 season finish in 2007, at world No. 84. She won eight titles on the ITF circuit from 2004 to 2007.

Kerber achieved her first Grand Slam victory in 2008 at the Australian Open by defeating Maret Ani, before losing to 25th seed Francesca Schiavone. She also made the third round at Indian Wells where she lost to sixth seed Bartoli. Kerber did not progress much that year after that, besides winning a further two ITF titles. Her struggles would continue in 2009 as she managed just three wins in WTA main draws. She did qualify for the US Open that year, where she made the second round. She also won her 11th and final ITF title that year. She finished 2008 and 2009 respectively ranked barely outside the top 100, at No. 108 and No. 106, respectively.

In 2010, Kerber qualified for the Australian Open where she reached the third round of a major for the first time, losing to third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in a close three-setter, from a set up. She then reached her maiden WTA final, in Bogotá, finishing runner-up to home star Mariana Duque Mariño, having upset top-seed Gisela Dulko in the semifinals. Kerber proceeded to reach two other quarterfinals that year, in Fes and Copenhagen, and also reached the third round of Wimbledon, where she defeated Sania Mirza and upset 13th seed Shahar Pe'er before losing to Jarmila Groth. At the end of the year, she made the third round in Beijing where she lost to Li Na, and capped off her season with a semifinal run in Luxembourg. She ended the year ranked No. 47.

Kerber did not win back-to-back matches in the first seven months of 2011 except once, at her first tournament of the year, in Hobart. At Wimbledon, she lost to youngster Laura Robson in the first round. In Dallas, the week before the US Open, she recorded a semifinal run, where she lost to Aravane Rezaï.

Kerber entered the US Open ranked world No. 92, and passed the first hurdle with a win in three sets over Lauren Davis in three sets. Next, she faced 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska and pulled off a shock three-set victory before going on to beat both Alla Kudryavtseva and Monica Niculescu to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal. There, Kerber surprised multiple-time quarterfinalist here Flavia Pennetta in three sets to advance to the semifinal, where she lost to ninth seed and eventual champion Samantha Stosur in three sets. Kerber reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 34 after the tournament.

She then qualified for the Pan Pacific Open and reached the second round, losing to eventual champion Radwańska from a set up. After that, she reached the semifinals in Osaka where she lost to eventual champion Bartoli. She finished the year as world No. 32, her second finish in a row in the top 50.

2012: Wimbledon semifinals, first title, top 5

Kerber's first tournament of 2012 was the Auckland Open where she reached the semifinals, falling to eventual runner-up Pennetta. At the Australian Open, Kerber was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, and made the third round where she lost to fourth seed Maria Sharapova. As a result, Kerber rose to a new career-high ranking of world No. 27. She then competed in her first Fed Cup tie in almost five years, where Germany faced defending champions Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, and won her only rubber, defeating Lucie Hradecká in straight sets but the Germans lost the tie 1–3. At her next tournament was in Paris, Kerber lifted her maiden WTA singles title. After seeing off Lucie Šafářová and Niculescu to make the last eight, she upset top seed Sharapova in straight sets. Kerber then beat Yanina Wickmayer in the last four, and faced second seed Bartoli in the final, seeing off the home player in three sets to win the title. She then suffered an early loss at the Qatar Open in hands of unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round.

Kerber's continued her surge up the rankings through the coming three months, that culminated in her cracking the top 10 rankings for the first time in her career. She started with a semifinal appearance at the Indian Wells Open. Seeded 18th with a bye in the first round, she moved past three Americans in Sloane Stephens, Vania King and Christina McHale, the second one via a walkover. Kerber then upset eighth seed Li Na in the quarterfinals, but was stopped by world No. 1 and eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in the last four. Her ranking improved to a career-high world No. 14 as a result. In Miami, Kerber was upset in her opener by Zheng Jie. Her next stop was indoors, at the Danish Open where she was the second seed. In her opener, she struggled past Stéphanie Foretz Gacon and then defeated Anne Keothavong and fellow German Mona Barthel. After that, she defeated third seed Jelena Janković to reach her second final of the year. She won the title by defeating the top seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

Starting off her clay season on home soil, in Stuttgart, Kerber advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Roberta Vinci and sixth seed Wozniacki, before losing to third seed Petra Kvitová. After an early exit in Madrid, Kerber advanced to the semifinals in Rome after avenging her Stuttgart loss to Kvitová in the last eight, which ensured herself a rise to the top 10 rankings for the first time in her career. In the last four, she lost to Sharapova in straight sets. At the French Open, 10th-seeded Kerber amassed back-to-back wins here for the first time after beating Zhang Shuai and Olga Govortsova. She then beat 18th seed Pennetta in three sets before seeing off Petra Martić in the fourth round to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up Sara Errani.

Kerber continued her steady rise of 2012 on grass, firstly by posting a runner-up appearance in Eastbourne, losing to a close final to Tamira Paszek, having served for the championship in the deciding set and missing five match points. At the Wimbledon Championships, Kerber was seeded eighth. She advanced to her second Grand Slam quarterfinal in a row, this time without losing set, by beating Lucie Hradecká, Ekaterina Makarova, 28th seed Christina McHale and former world No. 1 Kim Clijsters., the latter in 49 minutes. There, she defeated fellow German and 15th seed Sabine Lisicki in three sets, having been down a break in the third. In the semifinals, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. This was Kerber's then most recent equal-best Grand Slam result, for another three years until Australian Open in 2016.