Rittner: 'Winning Paris would be a special challenge for Angelique Kerber'
Tennis - German Fed Cup captain Barbara Rittner says winning the French Open would be a special challenge for Angelique Kerber, as the German will aim to complete her Grand Slam collection in 2019. Kerber won her first title at Wimbledon in 2018 after winning the Australian Open and US Open in 2016 and needs to win the French Open to complete her career Grand Slam. Only ten women have won all the four Grand Slams at least once and Kerber will be hoping to join that elite company.
Speaking to DW, Rittner says, "If you have already won the other three titles, Paris is a special challenge. Clay is not her favorite surface, it gets very slow when it's wet. But you never know. A lot of things have to go right, but if the weather in Paris is nice, including the week before the tournament, there could be an opening. Angie is the sort of player who has to find her way into a tournament. If her arm isn't working the way she wants it to, she has to work her way into the tournament and get into her fighting mode – which makes her particularly strong. Sometimes it helps for her to be given a scare. This can help her tap into the self-confidence that she has built up through all of the matches she has won and from the fact that she knows she is capable of raising her game during a the course of a match."
Rittner believes Kerber's serve has improved over the years and that new coach Rainer Schuttler can help Keber make it more aggressive. "Her serve will never be one of her great strengths. But she serves harder and more consistently in training than in matches, so maybe she can become more aggressive. In general, it's about her offensive game, she is unbelievably good with the volley – in this more aggressive, more daring game. I'm sure they'll work on it."
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from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2ETAqKa
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