Stuttgart (AP) – Angelique Kerber should help the energy of the Stuttgart home crowd to turn the tide after the unsuccessful trip to Kazakhstan. Alexander Zverev struggled with the next setback in his adopted homeland.
The two best German tennis professionals want to put their difficult start to the season behind them at the first tournaments of the year in Germany. Kerber is facing the next difficult task this week in Stuttgart right at the start against Estonian Anett Kontaveit, who is number five. “It’s sad, but you have to quickly concentrate on what’s next. I’m happy that we’re here,” said the German number one on Easter Monday.
“It’s disappointing”
Zverev wants to recover from his thigh injury in the coming days before the first appearance in Munich. “Things continue to happen that are a little out of my control, which is annoying for me,” said Zverev after his clear semifinals in two sets against tournament winner Stefanos Tsitsipas at the weekend at the ATP Masters in Monte Carlo. “It’s disappointing, now I have to try to regenerate again, which I’m starting to think is a bit stupid. I was ill in Miami, now I have a muscle injury. It’s not going really well this year.”
The third in the world rankings also confirmed when asked by the pay-TV broadcaster Sky that he would continue to compete next week in Munich (April 25 to May 1) and then at the tournaments in Madrid and Rome. It was already clear before his injury that Zverev would skip the clay court event in Barcelona around his 25th birthday on Wednesday.
After the most successful year of his career with six tournament victories including winning the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo 2021, Zverev is still waiting for his first big success this season. Among other things, he made headlines with his freak out against a referee in Acapulco. In the principality, the man from Hamburg had to admit a clear sporting defeat to the Greek Tsitsipas, who was currently outstanding on sand, 4: 6, 2: 6. “It’s clear that the better player won. It’s also relatively clear that my thigh played a role,” said Zverev.
Kerber is also looking for the form
Kerber suffered narrower but no less annoying defeats in the 1: 3 of the German tennis women in the Billie Jean King Cup. The 34-year-old lost her two singles against the Kazakhs in three sets each, so that the selection of the German Tennis Association on 11./12. November against the first relegation in a decade in what was then called the Fed Cup.
On the way to the French Open in just over a month, Kerber now wants to get closer to their top form in Stuttgart. The tournament, which she won twice, is threatened with an early end: the world number 17 scores in the first round. on Kontaveit. In her career, Kerber has only won one of the previous five games against the 26-year-old. “The draws often don’t say much,” said Kerber, but of course he also knew that it was not an easy first round: “I know that I have to play my best tennis from the start.”
In view of the strong field with seven players in the current top ten, Kerber is an outsider. “It’s good for me that I’ve already had two matches at the weekend. Maybe they’ll help me get in here quickly now,” she said and explained, also looking at her Stuttgart titles in 2015 and 2016: “It feels nice to be back to be back, especially knowing we’re playing in front of a crowd again.”