Kerber, Wozniacki savour rollercoaster careers
They are the top two seeds at the final edition of the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global – two veterans who have reached the heights of Grand Slam success, as well as the depths of lengthy injuries and loss of form.
For Angelique Kerber and Caroline Wozniacki, their up-and-down careers have made them more appreciative of their appearances at the season-ending tournament, which features only the top eight singles players of each season.
Ahead of the start of the competition on Sunday (21 October), Wozniacki said, “We go out for dinners and have, you know, a drink like coffee or tea every tournament. It’s nice to be able to catch up and just talk with girls that I have known since we were maybe 10 years old. It’s cool, this progress we have all made.”
The 28-year-old is the defending champion, and is also coming off her first Grand Slam win at the Australian Open in January – a victory all the more cherished as the Dane former world No. 1 completes her revival after years of poor form and niggling injuries. Lingering questions on whether she can ever win a Grand Slam title have also ended.
She said, “I think the players that I played against in my WTA Finals debut in 2009, a lot of them are not playing anymore. It’s just fun to be back here and, you know, my career has lasted a long time.
“Honestly, (winning the Australian Open) doesn’t change my mindset at all. I know I can beat the best players. But at the same time, you have to play really well. It just changes when I go into a press conference. It’s so nice I never get that (Grand Slam) question again.”
For 30-year-old Kerber, her initial rise to the top of women’s tennis came in 2016, when she won her first two Grand Slam titles in Melbourne and New York after a decade-long toil in the professional circuit.
Yet, she quickly fell off the top due to a loss of form the next year, dropping out of the top 20 in world rankings and failing to make last year’s WTA Finals Singapore. Undeterred, she changed her coach at the end of 2017, and it paid dividends this year, as she surged to her third Grand Slam win at Wimbledon in July.
The German said, “Without 2017 and without 2016, I wouldn’t be here the same person and the same player like I am right now. So it helps me also to growing the last 12, 24 months. Now I’m playing again in the WTA Finals.”
Despite her success this year, Kerber has again parted ways with her coach earlier this week. Of this decision, she explained, “We were having different views for the next steps of my career. So that’s why I decided to split. But we had great success together this year, and so I’m thankful to him.”
Both of them will be hoping to finish the year on the highest note possible with a WTA Finals title. Kerber is drawn in the Red Group with Naomi Osaka, Sloane Stephens and Kiki Bertens, while Wozniacki is in the White Group with Petra Kvitova, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Pliskova.
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