The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Kerber not daunted by title defence
Williams and Barty stand in the way – but champion recalls 2018 success as she returns to her ‘special place’
Reigning Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber is relishing a return to her “special place” even if she was handed a frightful draw.
The German claimed her maiden SW19 title last year when she beat Serena Williams in the final and is going to have to do it the hard way if she wants to defend her crown.
She is set for a last-16 rematch with Williams, who is a seven-time champion, while world No 1 Ashleigh Barty or Belinda Bencic, who beat her in Majorca last week, will be waiting in the quarter-final.
Kerber, who made the final at Eastbourne this week before losing to Karolina Pliskova, only arrived on the grounds yesterday, but is happy to be back.
“I think it’s completely different here because you’re coming back as a member the first time, so it’s really special for me,” she said.
“There are a lot of emotions and a lot of memories from last year, of course.
“It’s nice being back at this special place here for me.
“It’s a completely new year. Everything starts from zero. It is great to be back, but for me right now it’s focusing on my first round, on the tournament.”
First up is an all-German clash with Tatjana Maria and Kerber, who has also won the Australian Open and US Open, is not looking beyond that.
She claims not to know too much about her draw, other than that she is due to meet Williams.
“It’s nothing new for me, to be honest,” Kerber said.
“It is right now the first round that’s important. What’s in the second, third, fourth, whatever, it doesn’t matter right now. For me it’s the most important thing to play the first round, then looking ahead day by day. I mean, everything can happen, especially in the grand slams. We will see.
“Of course, there are always tough opponents. You have to beat everyone if you would like to win a grand slam. I just know Serena is there. I heard it all the time already. The first round is the important one.”
Kerber is determined to play her best tennis over the next fortnight, and not just because she is the defending champion.
The 31-year-old believes playing at Wimbledon is different to everywhere else on the circuit.
“Here you feel a completely different energy,” she added. “When you come here you have pressure, the nerves are much higher than usual.
“I mean, also for me every year I’m coming back, I feel you’re getting nervous when you come here. You really would like to play your best tennis. I think everyone is feeling the same.
“The grand slams are the special ones. Especially here in Wimbledon, it’s a traditional tournament.
“Everybody knows the tournament. This is the tournament you are really looking forward to playing your best tournament.
“That’s the goal for the year, to really being here, performing well, playing against the best players in the world, competing well.”
New world No 1 Ashleigh Barty has also arrived at Wimbledon with injury issues as she skipped the tournament at Eastbourne this week, having followed her French Open success by winning at Birmingham, to rest an arm issue.
She is feeling good, though, and is not letting her new found status affect her.
“It’s been a really good couple of days,” she said.
“It was nice to stay off the court for a few days, started hitting again on Thursday.
“As far as we’re going, everything has kind of worked out well with monitoring our loads, all those kind of things. So feeling good.”
Barty displaced Naomi Osaka at the top of the rankings, but the Japanese, who has won two of the last three grand slams, will regain her position if she claims victory at the All England Club.
Osaka does admit that she succumbed to the pressure of being on top of the world.
“Mentally it was way more stress and pressure than I could have imagined,” she said.
“I don’t think there was anything that could have prepared me for that, especially since I’m kind of an overthinker.
“I think it’s better for me now, I was going to say lower ranked, to be number two here because the only upside (of being number one) is if you win the tournament, you’re automatically number one.
“That, for sure, is a really big goal of mine. I don’t have to think about defending the ranking or anything.”
l Karolina Pliskova eased to victory over reigning champion Angelique Kerber at the Nature Valley International in Eastbourne.
Pliskova, ranked third in the world, had lost only 19 games in five matches on her way to the final and dropped just five more in a 6-1 6-4 victory in the final.
It was Pliskova’s second title in three years in Eastbourne.