Is Angelique Kerber Planning Retirement From Tennis?

Angelique Kerber has been one of the most notable players on the tour for a long time. Turning pro in 2003, the German sensation climbed the ladder of success in a graceful manner. Even though she suffered slight ups and downs in her career, she always made sure to make a comeback stronger than ever. Looking at her career, the 34-year-old has won a total of 13 titles so far, of which 3 are Grand Slams. Apart from that, she is also an Olympic Silver medalist and a former World No. 1.

Despite having a track record more impressive than most of the players on the tour, Kerber has been struggling with form lately. Even after repeated attempts, the German has failed to mark the presence she used to have in the previous years. Looking at Kerber’s downfall, a question that has been circulating in the tennis community is, ‘Is Angelique Kerber planning a retirement from Tennis?’

The simple answer to it is, NO!

Revisiting Kerber’s performance in the past two years

Angelique Kerber has been struggling with form since the start of the year. However, her struggle didn’t start in just 2022. The German has been struggling with the form for the past two years. In the pandemic hit 2020 season, she played a total of 6 tournaments, suffering early-round exits in all of them.

A similar downfall was seen in 2021. She kicked off her year by reaching the quarterfinals of the Grampians Trophy in Melbourne. Even though fans expected a comeback of Kerber, they were soon left in disappointment. In the tournaments that followed, Kerber suffered early-round exits in every tournament on hard as well as the clay courts.

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However, she made one of the strongest comebacks on the grass courts. She not only won a title in Bad Homburg but also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon. Her form continued in the second set of the hard-court season, reaching the semifinals and quarterfinals in Cincinnati and Indian Wells respectively.

Angelique Kerber not planning a retirement anytime soon

The answer to the question ‘Is Angelique Kerber planning retirement from Tennis’ dates back to November 3 last year. During that time, Kerber had freshly suffered a loss to Swiss player Belinda Bencic in the Billie Jean King Cup Finals. The loss had invited many speculations surrounding her retirement.

Learning about the speculations, German journalist Jannik Schneider took up the onus to come forward and clear the air. Taking to his Twitter, he revealed the conversation he had with Angelique Kerber. He wrote, “Kerber told me she wants to take the good last 6 months since grass season to the next season. No retirement. Said enjoys to be back in top ten and that she is able to beat top players. Also has less points to defend. Said she will prepare for Australia after holidays..”

The tweet in no time gained mileage, leaving Kerber’s fans with the biggest reason to rejoice. However, their excitement once again took a slight downturn seeing Kerber in 2022 till now.

Kerber in 2022

She kicked off her 2022 season with a first-round exit in the Australian Open. It was followed by another first-round exit in Qatar. She showed a slight improvement in Indian Wells reaching the fourth round. However, the high run was short-lived as she ended her first half of the hard-court season with a second-round exit in Miami.

Even after a down falling performance on the hard courts, fans are hopeful of a strong comeback by Kerber on the clay and the grass court. After kicking off her clay-court season with a first-round loss in Stuttgart, She will next compete in the WTA 1000 Rome scheduled to start tomorrow.

Watch this story-The Greatest Comebacks in Tennis