Return from maternity leave starts with defeat for Kerber
A year and a half after her last professional match to date and ten months after the birth of her daughter, Angelique Kerber is back. She started her Australian Open preparations with a defeat. Team-mate Laura Siegemund is nevertheless impressed.
Angelique Kerber has made a decent comeback on the tennis tour, but lost her first match after almost a year and a half off with her baby. In the German team's opening match against Italy at the United Cup in Australia, the three-time Grand Slam winner was beaten 4:6, 5:7 by Jasmine Paolini.
The 35-year-old last played a match on the tour in Wimbledon in the summer of 2022. She gave birth to her daughter Liana in February 2023 and has been working hard on her return ever since. Kerber got off to a good start against Paolini, the world number 97, but was only partially able to counter her opponent's power tennis, who suffered from calf cramps in the second set. The returnee gave up her serve six times in 1:48 hours.
Kerber got off to a good start. The three-time Grand Slam tournament winner fended off three early break points, took her opponent's serve and was 3:1 ahead in the first round. However, Paolini then dominated the match with her powerful shots and won the next four games in a row. Kerber fought back, cheering herself on time and again, but hit a forehand into the net on the Italian's fifth set point.
4:3 lead in the second set not enough
"You have to be active yourself, put the pressure on," demanded her coach Torben Beltz, who is coaching the German team at the United Cup, when Kerber changed sides. "I am impressed. I know what it's like to come back after a long break," said teammate Laura Siegemund in the stands. "Of course it's not her best yet, but it's great tennis."
Paolini was also quickly ahead with a break in the second set. However, a cramp initially threw the world no. 30 out of her rhythm. She voluntarily gave up two games to receive treatment during a break. But Kerber was also unable to take advantage of the 4:3 lead and lost the last game without winning a point.
She is playing for Germany in the team competition alongside Olympic champion Alexander Zverev and is preparing for the Australian Open in Melbourne, the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, which begins in two weeks' time. Zverev must prevent his first defeat in the second singles match of the day against Italy's Lorenzo Sonego. Laura Siegemund and Maximilian Marterer are registered for the potentially decisive final doubles match. On New Year's morning, France awaits in the battle for a place in the quarter-finals of the United Cup.
The mixed nations competition will be held for the second time as the season opener. 18 teams will compete in Perth and Sydney, and after the obligatory two singles matches there will be a potentially decisive mixed match. The top teams in each of the six groups of three and the two best runners-up in the preliminary round qualify for the quarter-finals of the ten-million-dollar tournament at the beginning of January.
Read also:
- NFL kicker out injured, then something unbelievable happens!
- Taylor Swift talks about love for her NFL star
- Crazy victory in the NFL top game
- NFL star breaks referee's leg
Despite her comeback after a year and a half away from professional tennis and giving birth, Angelique Kerber suffered a defeat in her first match back. Giving credit to Kerber's effort, teammate Laura Siegemund acknowledged, "I know what it's like to come back after a long break, and it's great tennis she's playing."
Source: www.ntv.de
