"World class again", and now the Olympics? Angelique Kerber still hesitates
Angelique Kerber leaves Wimbledon with a good feeling. However, she does not yet know whether she will carry this to the Olympic Games.
by SID
last edit: Jul 09, 2021, 12:51 pm
Angelique Kerber hesitated. Yes, she assured me, the Olympic Games were on her calendar, that was it. However: After her wonderful journey at Wimbledon had come to an end in a semifinals of the very best quality against world number one Ashleigh Barty, Kerber left it open whether she was actually going there. She was no longer the youngest, she said more or less analogously.
Although the calendar says that the Olympic tennis tournament in Tokyo begins on July 24th, Kerber "still wants to sit down with my team and discuss what the next few weeks look like and how we plan to continue". Either way, "I'll definitely take a few days off for myself, and I'll need that too," emphasized the 33-year-old, because: "I've played a lot and of course my body notices that too."
Kerber leaves Wimbledon with a smile
In fact, the semi-finals at Wimbledon were the eleventh match in three weeks for Kerber. Before her trip to London, the three-time Grand Slam winner had played her way to winning the title at the tournament in Bad Homburg. However: the effort was worth it. "I'm leaving Wimbledon with a smile on my face and a heart full of memories," she shared on Instagram. The past few weeks have shown her "how much I love this sport".
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That was of course not in sight, as Kerber himself admitted. Title in Bad Homburg, semi-finals in Wimbledon - a few weeks ago she would have said: "It's a very long and difficult journey to get there." The past few months have not gone as she imagined, but her "belief in me" and "the will to play big at Wimbledon have always been there."
Olympia 2016 as a "highlight"
Kerber left the All England Club in London SW19 with a very good feeling, despite the 3: 6, 6: 7 (3) against an impressed and impressive Barty (Australia). "I'm infinitely grateful that I made it because I think that one or the other has written me off in the last few months," she said. DTB women boss Barbara Rittner praised Eurosport: Kerber had "played back into the world class".
That would be good prerequisites for participating in the Tokyo games. Kerber also emphasized: "The Olympics are always something very special to me. Every athlete tries to get the best out of his country." She already experienced this "indescribable feeling" in 2016 - at that time she also won the silver medal in Rio. "That was", assured Kerber, "definitely a highlight of my career".