No rest as busy Kerber jets off for Fed Cup
BERLIN: There was no rest for newly-crowned Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber after a whirlwind of partying and engagements before jetting home yesterday to prepare for the Fed Cup. The 28-year-old German earned her first Grand Slam title by shocking world number one Serena Williams 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in Saturday’s final in Melbourne. After countless interviews, posing for pictures and undergoing a drugs test, Kerber eventually got back to her hotel around 3:00 am local time on Sunday morning, then went straight out partying. The new champion was sleepless in Melbourne, but brushed off any tiredness to celebrate on Sunday by swimming in the Yarra river next to the Rod Laver Arena, in echoes of the dip American Jim Courier took after his 1992 championship win on the same court.
The new world number two made the plunge along with her team, including coach Torben Beltz and physiotherapist Simon Iden, plus a German Eurosport commentator, who made a bet with Kerber to jump in the river if she won. “It was cold, but it was worth it,” said Kerber after her dip. “I haven’t slept for a minute, I only had appointments to get to,” she told broadcaster ZDF, having become the first German since Steffi Graf in 1999 to win a Grand Slam title.
“I managed to eat a banana after the final and then it was the next day. “I had never been so tired as in that moment,” she said after a night of partying as, despite only leaving the stadium in the early hours, “we still managed to go for a drink,” Kerber added with a grin. “I still can’t believe it. I’ve made history. A dream has come true. “I’m ready for anything now-even the wedding with ‘Petko’,” she joked after her Fed Cup team-mate Andrea Petkovic wrote: “Angelique, you’re crazy! I want to marry you!” on Twitter.
After posing for her official winner’s photo in Melbourne’s Botanical Gardens, Kerber flew back to Europe on Sunday night and had the chance to catch up on sleep on the long flight via Bangkok to Frankfurt, Germany, then onto Posen in Poland.
From there, she will drive to Puszczykowo, where she lives near to her grandparents.
“We’ll celebrate there with some sparkling wine. I am really looking forward to getting home,” she said. “My family have always stood by me and given me strength, even in moments when I didn’t believe in myself.”
There will be little time to enjoy her success, because on Tuesday she will join up with her Germany team-mates to prepare for next weekend’s Fed Cup first-round match against Switzerland in Leipzig.
There promises to be some fun for Kerber’s team later in the year as she will make good on a bet with her coach Beltz to skydive together, take a dancing class with her support staff and her physio will mark her victory in ink by getting a tattoo. “It will be the trophy from Melbourne,” he admitted. —AFP