Kerber’s coach an instant hit
LAURA LAMBERT
AFTER dragging herself off Centre Court, Angelique Kerber ran up to the players’ box with one man in her sights.
There she cried in the arms of her coach Wim Fissette, who has transformed her tennis, her form and her mentality — and made her a Wimbledon champion — all in a matter of months.
As the 30-year-old German was quick to admit on Saturday evening, her victory at SW19 was in large part down to the influence he has had. Since she started working with the Belgian at the end of last year, Kerber has reached at least the quarter-final of every Grand Slam and risen from No21 in the world to No4.
Her first and second serves have become faster and her style of play is noticeably more aggressive.
Perhaps most crucially for Saturday’s final, Fissette gave her the belief that she could beat Serena Williams. Yet for all that their success together has been lauded, it has reignited the confusion surrounding why Jo Konta suddenly split from Fissette last October, only three months after reaching the Wimbledon semi-final.
Following that shock decision, the British No1 has seen a sharp decline in her form, reaching only one final from 14 tournaments.
Having left SW19 last year as No4 in the world, today she will drop to No50. In contrast Kerber, who lives next to her grandparents in Poland and trains at a tennis centre named after her, has bounced back remarkably from a torrid 2017.
‘The last two years gives me so much experience, good and bad things,’ she said after winning.
‘Without 2017 I would not be here because I learnt so much from myself, as a person, improving my tennis, improving me as a tennis player.’
At no point in her 65-minute victory over Williams did she seem overawed by the American or the environment of a Centre Court crowd so focused on the new mother’s comeback.
Fissette has now coached five different players to beat the American — Kim Clijsters, Sabine Lisicki, Simona Halep, Victoria Azarenka and Kerber — and revealed it all came down to reminding them that the 23time Grand Slam winner is human.
‘It’s not easy to beat Serena so I’m very proud of my record,’ he said. ‘I am five-all against her with my players so I’m very lucky to have worked with some quality players.
‘The most important issue is that the players start with the right plan but especially the belief that they can beat Serena.
‘They all know how good she is but they all have to realise that she is human and that it’s possible to beat her. I feel that too many players go on the court against her believing that they can’t beat and I don’t want that with my players.’
Now he faces the task of keeping Kerber motivated and not letting her form slip as it did after her US Open win in 2016. However, he insisted: ‘I’m still sure that we haven’t seen the best Angie, she is very dangerous.’
The French Open stands between Kerber and the career Grand Slam, but Fissette takes confidence from her performance over Simona Halep in the quarter-final in Paris this year.
‘It would be the most difficult Slam for her to win but how many really good clay-court players are there at the top of women’s tennis? You have to keep believing.’