Photos: The Angelique Kerber Story

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Angelique Kerber  born 18 January 1988 is a German professional tennis player and former world No. 1, and a three time Grand slam champion. Having made her professional debut in 2003, Kerber rose to prominence upon reaching the semifinals of the 2011 US Open as the No. 92 ranked player in the world. She ascended to the top of the rankings on 12 September 2016, thus becoming the twenty-second and oldest player to achieve the number-one ranking for the first time and the first new number-one player since Victoria Azarenka in 2012.

 A left-hander, known for her aggressive counter-punching all-court game, Kerber has won 12 singles titles across all surfaces on the WTA Tour, including three Major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships. She has also won an Olympic silver medal while representing Germany at the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Kerber was born in Bremen, to an ethnic German father from Poznań, Sławomir Kerber, and a Polish mother, Beata (née Rzeźnik), who is her manager. She has one sister, Jessica. She grew up in Kiel and started playing tennis at age three, eventually joining the junior circuit. In 2012, Kerber moved to Puszczykowo; a suburb of Poznań, Poland, where her maternal grandfather owns an indoor tennis facility. She made inroads at events in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, but did not win a junior title before 2003, at which point she had already turned professional at age 15. Kerber speaks German, Polish and English and holds dual German-Polish citizenship. She has competed for Germany since the start of her career. In an interview Kerber clarified that, despite strong Polish connection, she considers herself German: “I am German. I play for Germany, I grew up in Germany, and my heart beats for Germany”; however, another time she said: “my heart beats for Poland too”. A huge football fan, Kerber has cited German club FC Bayern München as her favourite team.  Although born right-handed, she plays left-handed.

2018: Wimbledon champion

Kerber started her season at the Hopman Cup for the first time, and partnered with Alexander Zverev. Kerber remained undefeated in her singles matches there and helped Germany reach the final where they lost to Switzerland. Kerber then played at the Sydney International. She drew Lucie Safarova in the first round and saved two match points to defeat her in three sets. She then faced Venus Williams who she defeated in three sets as well to progress to the quarterfinals. She defeated former World No. 4 Dominika Cibulkova in straight sets to reach the semifinals. With another win over an in-form Camila Giorgi she reached the final, where she beat home favourite Ashleigh Barty to win her first title since winning the US Open in 2016.

At the Australian Open she defeated compatriot Anna-Lena Friedsam and Donna Vekic both in straight sets to advance to the third round where she faced former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova. Kerber defeated her in straight sets to advance to the fourth round in Australia, where she beat Hsieh Su-Wei to reach her first Slam quarterfinal since she won the US Open in 2016. American Madison Keys was her opponent in the quarterfinals. She defeated her just under an hour in straight sets to reach her second semifinal at the Australian Open. In the semifinal clash against world No. 1 Simona Halep both had two match points in the third set, but both were unsuccessful in conversion. The match ended 9–7 in the third set, with Halep winning after the fourth match point. With this performance, Kerber returned to the top 10 in 2018, ranked 9.

Kerber then played at Doha and reached the quarterfinals defeating Samantha Stosur and Johanna Konta. In the quarterfinals she lost to top seed Caroline Wozniacki in a three setter. She then played at Dubai Tennis Championship where she defeated Barbora Strycova and qualifier Sara Errani in straight sets in first and second rounds, respectively. In the quarterfinals she defeated 3rd seed Karolina Plíšková yet again in straight sets to set up a semifinal clash with top seed Elina Svitolina of Ukraine which she lost in straight sets. This was her fifth consecutive loss to Svitolina since the China Open 2016.

She then entered the Indian Wells Masters. She beat Ekaterina Makarova and defending champion Elena Vesnina, then defeated World. No. 7 Caroline Garcia before falling in the quarterfinals to Daria Kasatkina 6-0 6-2. Kerber reached again the quarterfinals in the second Premier Mandatory tournament of the year in Miami. She completed three matches by beating Johanna Larsson, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Wang Yafan, before being defeated by reigning US Open & eventual Miami champion Sloane Stephens.

She played Fed Cup semifinal tie against Czech Republic. Kerber lost both of her single rubbers to Karolína Plíšková and Petra Kvitová respectively, both of her matches she lost in straight sets. She took the revenge from Kvitová in indoor clay tournament in Stuttgart in solid two sets. But retired in her next match against Anett Kontaveit from Estonia in the second set. Kerber missed the third Premier Mandatory tournament of the year in Madrid. Then entered Rome Masters as the 11th seed and showed results against Zarina Diyas, Irina-Camelia Begu and Maria Sakkari, before earning her sixth straight defeat from Ukrainian Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals.

Kerber was seeded 12th at the French Open. In the opening round, she defeated Mona Barthel in straight sets. Kerber continued her form in the second round with a straight sets wins over Ana Bogdan. Kerber faced her first seeded in the third round,18th seed Kiki Bertens who Kerber defeated in straight sets. With the win, she reached the fourth round with her opponent being 7th seed Caroline Garcia. She defeated Garcia in straight sets to reach her first French Open quarterfinals in six years. In the quarterfinal, Kerber lost to eventual champion Simona Halep in three sets. It was Kerber’s best results at the French Open, equally her result in 2012.

Kerber started grass-court season as 2nd seed in Mallorca, where she lost in the first round to Alison Riske.In Eastbourne, Kerber lost in semifinals to Caroline Wozniacki, having defeated Dominika Cibulková, Danielle Collins and Daria Kasatkina en route. Kerber entered Wimbledon as the No. 11 seed. She defeated 2010 Finalist Vera Zvonareva, 2017 Girls Champion Claire Liu, No. 18 seed Naomi Osaka and Former Top 10 Player Belinda Bencic en route to the quarterfinals, where she became the highest seed left in the draw. She beat Indian Wells Finalist Daria Kasatkina and 2017 French Open Champion Jelena Ostapenko to reach her second Wimbledon final. She faced and defeated Serena Williams in straight sets in a rematch of the 2016 final. With this victory, she returned to the top 5 at No. 4.