‘My Grandparents Are There’ – Germany’s Angelique Kerber Details Tense Situation in Family Amid the Ukraine-Russia Crisis

Angelique Kerber has been on a low note since the start of the season. The German witnessed first-round exits at the Australian Open, as well as in Qatar. However, the former World No. 1 has made a slight comeback at the Indian Wells and is currently in the third round. Even though Kerber is on a decent run in Indian Wells, tennis is not her first priority right now.

Recently, talking to the German Press, Kerber opened up on how first the COVID pandemic and now the Ukraine-Russia conflict has been affecting her personally as well as professionally. She also spoke about how because of this, she has been failing to concentrate fully on her matches.

How has the Ukraine-Russia conflict been affecting Angelique Kerber?

Entering the BNP Paribas Open as the 15th seed, Kerber received a first-round bye. Starting her tournament campaign from the second round, Kerber beat Qinwen Zheng to set up a third-round clash with Russia’s Daria Kasatkina. Before the match, Kerber had asserted that she doesn’t know how would she feel playing against a Russian.

After her straight-set win against Daria, Angelique was asked how she felt playing against Russia.

Taking the question with dignity, Kerber propounded that she tried to keep the ongoing situation between Russia-Ukraine out of her mind while playing against Daria. She said, “I tried to really put that out of my mind. I’ve known Daria for a while now and I put that out of my mind.”

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The World is undergoing a crisis-like situation for the past three years. Starting from the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, the world is currently witnessing one of the biggest life-taking inter-nation conflicts in Russia and Ukraine. Showing her concern for the current ongoing situation in the world, Kerber emphasized the fact that tennis is second on her priority list.

“After the pandemic-or rather during the ongoing pandemic-tennis for me is still number two. Right now, there’s much more important issues in the world. People are fleeing, the whole situation that’s topic number one and is frightening to everyone,” she said.

Why is Angelique Kerber personally worried about the Russia-Ukraine crisis?

Even though Kerber was born in Bremen, Germany, the 34-year-old has a part of her roots in Russia. As per Kerber, she has her grandparents living in Russia. Elaborating on how that has been affecting her and her family, Kerber said, “As I’ve said, I don’t live far from the situation. My grandparents are there, and so, of course, you’re checking the news every five minutes or every hour, you’re in touch with folks. I think right now that’s the topic that is occupying my mind and everyone else here.”

 How has the conflict affected Kerber’s on-court performance?

Finishing on how the presence of her grandparents in Russia has been affecting her. Kerber further spoke about how the crisis has affected her tennis performance. Going more specific, the 3-time Grand Slam champion also brought to light how the situation has made it difficult for her to get back the concentration she used to have before.

“For me, tennis continues to be second, third, or fourth in my life. I try in this situation to just concentrate on the match. I have ok success with that, but I try to flip that switch very late. An hour before the match, it’s not like I’m fully focused and in a match headspace. It’s a little different than it was.”

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On the tennis front, Kerber is in the fourth-round of the WTA 1000 BNP Paribas Open (Indian Wells), and is set to face the 3rd seeded Iga Swiatek.