German tennis star
“Nervous and excited at the same time”: Angelique Kerber cancels the US Open – because she is expecting her first child
Angelique Kerber was still on the court at Wimbledon, but she is skipping the US Open for a good reason
© Adrian Dennis / AFP
Tennis professional Angelique Kerber is pregnant and is therefore taking a career break. The US Open, which begins on Monday, has already fallen victim to the baby break.
After her early exit at Wimbledon, Angelique Kerber became quiet. Now the former number one in the tennis world has given the reason for her break – and it’s a nice one. The 34-year-old is pregnant and is expecting her first child with her partner in the spring of next year. “In the next few months I will be taking a break from traveling the globe as a tennis player, but I believe the reason for this is the best that can be had,” Kerber wrote on social media on Wednesday.
Kerber will therefore not take part in the US Open in New York, which begins on Monday. “I really wanted to play the US Open, but then I decided that 2-1 is not a fair competition,” wrote Kerber with a wink.
Angelique Kerber: “New York was often a turning point in my career”
New York was always a very special place for the three-time Grand Slam tournament winner. In 2011 she surprisingly made it into the semi-finals of the US Open as an unseeded player. It was the breakthrough of the Kiel native, who was about to end her career at the time. Five years later, Kerber celebrated her second Grand Slam title in Flushing Meadows and became the first German since Steffi Graf to become number one in the tennis world.
“New York has often been a turning point in my career, and it feels like in a way it’s the same now,” Kerber wrote. The US Open always had “a special place in my heart,” wrote Germany’s still best tennis player.
The end of her career should not be the upcoming birth of her first child. Rather, the time-out should initially only be a baby break. After the birth, she could very well imagine returning to the tennis court with a view to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
But first, Kerber will withdraw from the public. “Being a professional athlete means everything to me, but I’m grateful for the path ahead of me,” wrote Kerber. “To be honest, I’m nervous and excited at the same time.”
Alexander Zverev also cancels the US Open
After Kerber’s cancellation, the world number 92. Tatjana Maria will go into the US Open as the German number one for women. The mother of two can be a good role model for Kerber, as she showed with her recent semi-final entry in Wimbledon that even as a mother you can still be very successful in professional sports.
In the men’s category, Alexander Zverev, the best German player, also canceled his participation in the last Grand Slam tournament of the season on Monday. The Olympic champion did not get fit for New York in time after his serious foot injury at the French Open. The 25-year-old is now planning his comeback at the Davis Cup in Hamburg in mid-September.