Angelique Kerber had been working towards this day for days, weeks and months. On Tuesday in the midday heat of Melbourne it was all over again after 1:52 hours. Her return to the big tennis stage at the Australian Open, which she won in 2016, ended with a defeat in three sets against the American Danielle Collins in round one of the tournament: 2:6, 6:3, 6:1. She couldn’t hide her disappointment: “I would have liked to have played one or two more matches,” Kerber said afterwards.
Angelique Kerber only played a handful of matches at the United Cup two weeks ago in Sydney after a total of one and a half years away from the tennis tour and the birth of daughter Liana last February. But Sydney had viewed Kerber as nothing more than a dress rehearsal: the big comeback of the three-time Grand Slam winner, now 35 years old, was planned on the big stage, on the blue courts on the Yarra River in Melbourne. “It was the first real tournament for me,” said Kerber, and she had to realize that she didn’t immediately find the routine, the security, her “rhythm” there, as she had hoped.
The organizers chose not the big Rod Laver Arena, but at least a court for 3,000 spectators – the court has the interesting name “Guojiao 1573”, named after a Chinese sponsor, a liquor distillery. A few German fans had gathered, DTB coach Barbara Rittner came to support and brought young player Ella Siedel, 18, with her. Kerber’s mother Beata sat in the second row behind coach Torben Beltz.
Angelique Kerber had a relatively clear idea of what to expect, despite some unknown factors such as the impact of the Australian heat and wind on her game, as well as the stress levels upon entering the court. Because the draw had given her, in keeping with “Guojiao 1573”, a high percentage of injustice: an old acquaintance with an unbridled offensive urge – not her favorite opponent profile. “I would have liked a better draw,” she later admitted. Because she had already met Danielle Collins from Florida at the Australian Open in 2019, when she went down 0:6, 2:6. Three years later, Collins made it to the final in Melbourne, where she lost to Ashleigh Barty. At that time she was one of the top ten players in the world.
Kerber can take advantage of some of Collins’ insecurities
Collins has now fallen back in the rankings to 62nd place, but she has retained her demonstrative aggressiveness, the clenched fist after every successful blow, and the cheers. She won the first two points before Kerber was able to use some of her opponent’s insecurities to break. However, Kerber’s biggest weakness at the moment became clear relatively quickly: she only managed her own serve once in the first set.
Only in the second set did she go on the attack, increasing the speed of her hitherto harmless serve, daring volleys, and hitting the famous Kerber forehand shot straight down the line. As Collins’ lack of concentration increased, Kerber won two set points with two long passing shots when the score was 5:3. “Come on now,” she called to herself clearly as she managed to balance the sentence.
She also fought for every ball in the third round, but when Collins attacked her serve very early again, she had little to counter the constant attack from the other side of the net – also because some of the counterpunches still lacked precision.
It was clear to Angelique Kerber and coach Beltz from the outset that half a dozen matches – five at the United Cup at the beginning of the month in Sydney, another now at the Australian Open – would not be enough to elegantly cover up a year and a half break from competition. The most important thing for her is to “look from round to round, catch matches, even accept a defeat,” she said in December: “It won’t work without patience.”
The days in Australia also showed her that the environment of the tournament is still the same – but tennis has moved on in the year and a half of her absence. “Everything has become faster, more athletic,” she said. After her return, work awaits Angelique Kerber. However, she always saw work as an incentive.