The clay court start went wrong for Kerber with an infection and a first-round exit in Stuttgart. She will now skip a Masters 1000 tournament and only get involved again in Rome.
Exhausted and disappointed, Angelique Kerber said goodbye to the Stuttgart tennis tournament after her early exit.
The clear 2:6, 1:6 against the former British US Open winner Emma Raducanu once again confirmed the realization that Kerber still needs time after her pregnancy break and the birth of her daughter.
“I played well at times, but that clay court feeling was missing at times,” said the former world number one (36) after her first-round defeat: “The match practice, especially on clay, the surface that doesn’t suit me anyway, is still extreme missing.”
It was clear to her that the clay court season would be a challenge. The left-hander from Kiel often struggled on clay even before her baby break. She hadn’t played a match on the red clay for two years. In addition, a cold infection limited preparation.
Against Raducanu, who is 15 years younger, Kerber sometimes showed offensive rallies, but she was unable to maintain the level. “Of course I’m disappointed. I would have wished it to be different, but I gave everything I could,” she said. “It would be a lie if I said that I was in top shape. Of course I was and still am weak.”
The Kiel native will miss the next Masters 1000 event in Madrid. She announced that she would only compete again at the tournament in Rome from May 17th to 19th and then at the French Open in Paris at the end of May. “I’m going to take a few days off now and then I’ll try to do the proper clay court preparation,” said Kerber.
She was the last German participant to be eliminated after the previous defeats of the two Swabians Laura Siegemund and Tatjana Maria in Stuttgart. All three made it into the main draw thanks to a wildcard and lost in round one of the strong tournament.
Source: Stern
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