The German number one wants to get in shape on grass in Grunewald for the upcoming classic in Wimbledon, where the Kiel woman celebrated the last of her three Grand Slam tournament successes in 2018. The tournament in London starts in two weeks.
“I’m really excited to play here. It is very important for German tennis to have this tournament,” said Kerber on Sunday in Berlin. “The weather should be great, and the facility, which I only know with clay courts, now looks really great with a lawn. It will be a great week.”
Kerber was eliminated three times in a row in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament, and this happened to her two weeks ago at the French Open. “After leaving Paris it took me a few days to finish the clay court season. Anyone who knows me knows that grass is my favorite surface. I just want to look ahead now,” said Kerber.
The 33-year-old also looked back. At the last WTA tournament in Berlin in 2008, the number 27 in the world was eliminated in the first round against her Polish friend Agnieszka Radwanska, who has since retired. “I fell, broke my hand and had to give up. But a few years earlier I played my first professional tournament here. I remember that better,” said Kerber.
In the first round she meets a qualifier, in the round of 16 there could be a German duel with Andrea Petkovic, who first has to beat the former world number one Viktoria Asarenka from Belarus.
dpa
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Stand: 13.06.2021, 15:40
