Germany’s Angelique Kerber did not get past the opening round in her past three Grand Slam appearances before Wimbledon, but the disappointing results never made the former world No. 1 doubt herself.
The 2018 Wimbledon champion, who also won the Australian Open and the US Open in 2016, has slipped to 28th in the rankings.
Before her title run at Bad Homburg in the lead-up to Wimbledon, the last time the 33-year-old won more than two matches in a row was at last year’s US Open, where she made the fourth round.
Photo: AFP
However, back on grass, the plucky left-hander has strung together a winning run of 10 matches and today faces Australian world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty in her first major semi-final since her title-winning run at Wimbledon three years ago.
“The last few months, it was really tough,” 25th seed Kerber told reporters after beating Czech Karolina Muchova 6-2, 6-3 on a fan-filled Court One. “I was not able to have the result that I was actually looking for.”
“I never stopped believing in myself, in my team,” Kerber said. “For me, I love to play tennis and I love this sport, to go out there and play again in front of the fans. I think this also gives me that push to play my best tennis right now.”
“I have always had some ups and downs in my career. I always believed that I could come back because I know what I can [do]. I never stopped believing in myself, [in] how I can play,” she added.
Kerber feels that there is something at the All England Club that brings out the best in her, and having lifted the Venus Rosewater Dish once and finishing runner-up in 2016 helps.
“It’s a good feeling to already have the trophy at home,” Kerber said, hoping that her experience will count against top seed Barty, who has never made it this far at Wimbledon.
“I think it’s more about this tournament for me, because when I was a kid, I really looked forward to playing this tournament well and playing my best tennis here,” Kerber said. “Now I’m back. I’m coming [here] after a really tough time. I was not playing good the last few months. Now winning — like, last week, a tournament at home — now playing well here again, that means a lot to me.”
“For me, it’s more the experience that I had a few years ago. I twice played the finals here,” she said.
MIXED DOUBLES
In mixed doubles on Tuesday, the pairing of sixth-seeded Latisha Chan of Taiwan and Ivan Dodig of Croatia edged the duo of Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi of Pakistan and Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine 7-6 (5), 6-4.
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