For Angelique Kerber the career Grand Slam is not a utopia
Let's face it, who thought, before 2016, that Angelique Kerber could have, from 2019 onwards, the chance to complete the career Grand Slam? Perhaps not even the dearest of her relatives would ever have thought of a possibility, till some years ago. And yet, Angie, already a great tennis player, has proven herself to be a great champion, ready to fight for every ball, as she first demonstrated in 2015, her first real year as a protagonist, in which she won four titles.
Fatigue, pressure, negative moments, expectations, can cause psychological damage to all sportsmen. 2017 was a period of crisis for Kerber, but the German came out of the black year with a great personality, winning her third Major on Wimbledon's lawns in 2018.
Now, the season will move to clay, on a surface on which she has already shown that she knows how to play with confidence and ease. Kerber was able to win titles on all the surfaces, showing solid and defensive tennis, but ready to exploit with determination the weak points of her rivals, hitting them with winning forehands and backhands. The athletic shape is an integral part of her game; when she is physically at the top, she can beat all the rivals.
In 2019, she played and lost the Indian Wells final against Bianca Andreescu (the Canadian eliminated the German also in the third round of the Miami Open). She also reached the quarter-finals in Sydney, the fourth round at the Australian Open, the semi-finals in Doha and the third round in Dubai.
We don't need any other words: her main goal, for 2019, will be to win the French Open and complete the career Grand Slam. It will not be a simple goal. Pressure and expectations will be her main opponents. To achieve such an important success, she will has to play freely, both mentally and physically.
With her there will be other opponents who can compete for the victory in Paris, but, among them, the most credible seems to be Simona Halep, with other players who seem better equipped for fast surfaces. Probably her athletic and mental preparation will be aimed at reaching Paris in the best possible conditions, to play the most important fortnight of her already amazing career. Winning Roland Garros can not only be a utopia for Angelique Kerber.
from Tennis World USA http://bit.ly/2VBH1NW
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