Kerber refuses to dwell on disappointing 2017 as she targets final event
A year after finishing the season as the No 1-ranked player in the world, Angelique Kerber will be playing at the WTA Elite Trophy in China with an eye on 2018.
The German won two major titles, at the Australian Open and US Open, in 2016 but has struggled this year and has dropped to No 19 in the world.
She said: “I’m not trying to look back at the year.
“I’m trying to look ahead and trying to end the year as well as I can by putting everything on the court, winning as many matches as I can and going to my holidays with a good feeling.
“It’s a tough tournament but it’s an opportunity to get better, have good competition and maybe also going with a good feeling to next season.”
The WTA Elite Trophy is a round-robin tournament for the top players who failed to qualify for the WTA Finals.
It splits 12 players in four groups of three, with the group winners reaching the semi-finals.
Kerber is in a group with Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Ashleigh Barty.
Other players at the tournament include US Open championsloanestephens,whoisin a group along with Anastasija Sevastovaandbarborastrycova. Stephens said: “I just want to compete well because obviously every match is really important.
“I just hope to play well and get in a few matches out there.”
In the other groups, it’s: Coco Vandeweghe, Peng Shuai and Elena Vesnina; and Julia Goerges, Kristina Mladenovic and Magdalena Rybarikova.
The 12 players at the tournament won a combined 11 WTA singles titles in 2017.