Once again, Angelique Kerber is in a defiant mood as she fails to reach the final at her six consecutive tournament of the season in Indian Wells.
Her latest loss occurred in the fourth round at the hands of Russia’s Elena Vesnina, who fired 28 winners to secure her first ever win over a top-3 player. The defeat comes a day after Kerber struggled in a two-and-a-half-hour thriller against French world No.62 Pauline Parmentier.
“It was actually not my day. I was doing a lot of mistakes. I was not moving, actually, good.” She said following her loss to Vesnina.
“But it’s happened. I mean, she played from the beginning until the end good tennis, and she was aggressive. So, yeah, she took the game on her hand.”
Set to rise back to No.1 in the world rankings following Serena Williams’ withdrawal from the tournament, the first quarter of the season has been somewhat different to 12 months ago for Kerber. Last year the German won her first grand slam title at the Australian Open shortly after reaching the final at the Brisbane International.
“I’m not looking back on the tournaments. It’s a completely new year, new tournament, and every tournament starts from zero.” The 29-year-old said.
“For me, I think I get used to the pressure and everything. So I start every tournament from zero. I am going out there to play my matches, trying to win it.”
Kerber’s upbeat perspective is refreshing, but it isn’t going to maintain her place at the top of the rankings. Williams’ return will place pressure on the German and Karolina Pliskova has the ability to rise to No.1 by the end of the month. Pliskova needs to win back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami to achieve the milestone.
Bidding to maintain her competitive edge, Kerber hopes a carefully mastered schedule will boost her chances. Unlike previous seasons, the main focus of the 29-year-old is playing in the big tournaments with the biggest rewards.
“I know my schedule right now actually for the whole year, because we know it every year we start the season.” She said. “ So of course I’m trying to focus more on the big tournaments and doing a little bit less.”
Reaching the semifinal stage at only one tournament this so far this season, it can be argued that this year is a disappointment compared to that of the previous for the two-time grand slam champion. Still, it has failed to curb Kerber’s belief and determination.
“A good year is always when I’m sitting down at the end of the year and I can say I did my best.” She explained.
“You have always up-and-downs during a year. I mean, to trying to improve my game is always a goal for me, so let’s see what the year brings, (its the) beginning of the year.”
The next test takes Kerber to the Miami Open where she will be the top seed. Last year she reached the semifinal stage and will be defending 390 ranking points.
