"I felt it didn't make sense anymore" - Angelique Kerber reveals reasons for almost retiring from tennis in 2011
Former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber shed some light on the most challenging time of her career and how it nearly led her to quit the sport.
Kerber published her autobiography, "A Question of Will," on Tuesday and opened up about her book and her tennis career in an interview with Bild.
The German revealed that 2011 was her career’s toughest year. In the first seven months of that year, she failed to win back-to-back matches and was defeated eleven times in a row in the first round.
The 2018 Wimbledon Champion disclosed that 11 consecutive first-round losses knocked her down to the point where she didn't pick up a racket for weeks even though she was not the kind of person to quit. Advancing to the semifinals at the Dallas Open, however, kept her going.
At the 2011 US Open, she rediscovered herself and made a breakthrough, reaching her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinals and semifinals while being ranked World No. 92. Kerber reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 34 after the tournament.
"Not at all. That wasn't typically me. I'm someone who sees things through to the end, even at school, where I didn't enjoy everything either. I've always been a perfectionist. If I didn't like my writing, I just wrote it again. But 2011 was a tough period. I had been knocked out on the first lap 11 times in a row, threatening to drop out of the top 100. That's when I felt it didn't make sense anymore," Angelique Kerber said.
"I didn't pick up a racket for weeks, but then my character came through again and it was in my head: I want it. Almost a question of will. And here we are at the title of the book. So at some point I came to and then had my breakthrough with the semi-finals of the US Open in 2011,” she added.
The 34-year-old said that despite the first half of her 2011 season, she did not fall into depression.
"No, absolutely not [fall into depression]. It never went that way. It is very important to me to emphasize that,” she said.
"I've talked about that before with Kim Clijsters and also with Victoria Azarenka" - Angelique Kerber on playing tennis after becoming a mother
Angelique Kerber and her partner Franco Bianco, a fitness entrepreneur, are expecting their first child. She is looking forward to returning to the tour at the 2023 US Open.
In response to a question about playing tennis as a mother, the 34-year-old stated in an interview with Sport Bild that she had discussed the subject with Kim Clijsters, who won the US Open twice as a mother, and Victoria Azarenka, and that the topic interested her even before she got pregnant.
"I've talked about this before with Kim, who won the US Open twice as a mum, and also with Victoria Azarenka. The topic just interested me, even though I wasn't pregnant," she stated.