Angelique Kerber - Hope is on the lawn
Angelique Kerber failed in round one of the French Open for the third time in a row. The upcoming tournament weeks promise improvement - they take place on grass.
by Jörg Allmeroth
last edit: May 30, 2021, 07:25 pm
The sun laughed from the sky over Paris. In 14th place on the large Roland Garros tennis festival site, spectators were finally back. But Angelique Kerber did not really feel anything from the sunny Grand Slam feeling of departure in France's capital on the last Sunday of May: After 86 minutes of the first round, her French Open appearance in 2021 was over again, the untimely farewell was sealed by the Ukrainian qualifier Anhelina Kalinina a largely flawless 6-2, 6-4 win. "I'm glad to be able to play on grass soon," said Kerber afterwards, frustrated, "I really hoped for more here."
In Kerber's career, Paris remains the tournament of unfinished business and unfulfilled dreams. The former world number one has left widespread signs of success in the tour business, she has won the Grand Slam tournaments in Wimbledon, Melbourne and New York, she won a silver medal at the Olympic Games in Rio 2016, and she also advanced with the German Fed Cup -Team up to the final of the team competition.
However, when it came to the winner's cup in the Roland Garros stadium, Kerber was never really in the hot phase of the game, two quarter-finals are and will probably remain their best scores under the Eiffel Tower. She wanted to intervene in the action "calmly" and "relaxed", "without great pressure", but after a passable performance during the preparation period, Kerber seemed completely uptight and often without ideas against her 24-year-old challenger. "That was not the tennis that I expected from myself," said Kerber after the bitter short-time work, "it took me far too long to find stability at all."
Kerber's meager record in Paris
In her late career years, the French Open date, the highlight of the annual clay court season, seems more like a tiresome compulsory exercise for Kerber - an event that she goes to without much inner persuasiveness. The 33-year-old has been sent home five times in the last six tournaments, an astonishingly meager record even for a player who, by definition, does not have the greatest sympathy for the sliding exercises in the sand. In addition, in 2021 there is the impression that Kerber is still in a kind of race to catch up with the world's elite - after the unsuccessful start in Australia with the forced quarantine and weeks of form crisis. A little self-confidence after two or three victories in the last clay court time was not enough to somehow send the German front woman on the path to success in Paris. “With the defeat you saw again how she was preoccupied with too many problems and doubts of her own. The handbrake was simply pulled, ”said DTB woman boss Barbara Rittner at Eurosport.
Kalinina, tempered by three convincing qualifying victories, took command on court 14 immediately after kick-off. After 17 minutes the Ukrainian led 5-0, Kerber, demoralized, crept to her chair. She then caught up to 2: 5, but could not prevent the 0: 1 set deficit. In the second set a similar picture: Kalinina was quickly 5-0 ahead and was the dominant force. But then suddenly got into trouble again against a Kerber who was fighting with the courage of despair. When the score was 4: 5, Kerber even had a break ball to equalize 5: 5. But shortly afterwards the game was over, with Kalinina's second match point. Green is now Kerber's future and hope. At the German lawn tournaments after Roland Garros - in Berlin and Bad Homburg. And then at Wimbledon.
Here the single tableau in Roland Garros
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