Tennis: Singles career continues: Celebratory start for Kerber in Paris

Angelique Kerber blew her hands to the spectators and celebrated her opening victory under the floodlights of Paris. The 36-year-old celebrated a successful start to the Olympic tennis tournament and has thus postponed the end of her singles career. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner won her opening match 7:5, 6:3 against the Japanese Naomi Osaka (26) in a strong 68 minutes.

Before the opening ceremony, the Kiel native announced that she wanted to end her illustrious career after the Summer Games. Now she will face Romanian Jaqueline Cristian in the second round. She is still playing in the doubles alongside Laura Siegemund.

Opening victory after long opening ceremony

The evening before, Kerber had soaked up the Olympic atmosphere at the opening ceremony. After the boat trip across the Seine with the German team, the Kiel native, unlike many other athletes, walked to the celebration area on the Trocadéro wrapped in a transparent cape and cheered on the spectators despite the constant rain.

On Court Philippe Chatrier, Kerber was able to enjoy the affection of the crowd as she walked onto the court. However, the duel between the two tennis players, who both returned from maternity leave at the beginning of the season, got off to a bumpy start. The former world number one Osaka pushed Kerber, who is ten years older, onto the defensive with her powerful shots and was quickly 3-1 ahead.

But as so often in her career, Kerber fought back with her indomitable will and also took her opponent’s serve. When the score was 3:4, she loudly encouraged herself with “Come on now”. At zero, Kerber managed the next break to make it 6:5 and a little later, after 38 minutes, was able to celebrate winning the first set in the box. After the 3:3 in the second set, Kerber completely dominated the match and won confidently.

Performance against former number one gives hope for more

After the Summer Games, Kerber will say goodbye with an impressive career record as the second most successful German tennis player behind Steffi Graf. In 2016, she won the Australian Open and the US Open and became the first German number 1 in the women’s tennis world after Graf. In the strongest season of her career, she also won Olympic silver in Rio de Janeiro. Two years later, she triumphed at the grass court classic of Wimbledon.

Her daughter Liana was born at the end of February 2023. At the turn of the year, Kerber returned to the professional tour, but was never able to reach her previous level again. Kerber lost in the first round at all three Grand Slam tournaments this season. She has now avoided this – and with this performance can hope for more.