Angelique Kerber has a special relationship with the US Open. At the last Grand Slam tournament of the year in 2011 began with their first semi-final participation in a major promotion to the top of the world. Five years later she won the tournament in New York - and was then the number one tennis world. Only the memories of these successes have remained.
Kerber has retired far too early in a major tournament. In 2:24 hours the number 14 of the seedlist against Kristina Mladenovic from France had lost 5: 7, 6: 0, 4: 6. At 14:59 local time, the 2019 US Open for Angelique Kerber was over - their rapid ride on the downward spiral, however, continues. And nobody seems to find the brake pedal.
"She was braver in the third set and I was too passive, so instead of going on it, I took three steps back," said Kerber. Four of the previous five games she had won against Mladenovic. But this is as irrelevant as her tournament victory in Flushing Meadows three years ago or the fact that her opponent is in the world rankings 40 positions behind Kerber. It does not seem to matter who the Kieler is against - the result is always the same.
Kerber lacks confidence
Even at the last two tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto, the opening hurdles had been too high. Kerber failed Anett Kontaveit from Estonia (world ranking 20th) and Daria Kasatkina (Russia / number 40). In Wimbledon, where she was the defending champion, she lost in the second round against the American Lauren Davis - the 95th of the WTA rankings.
Who exits early, automatically plays fewer games. And who has fewer games, which of course lacks game practice. In the case of Kerber, there is an extreme lack of self-confidence. For ten days she had prepared for this last Grand Slam tournament of the year, "well-trained", as she emphasized. Nevertheless, nothing has changed.
She was "a bit disappointed," said the world ranking-14. Others smash their thugs after defeats like these, shout out their frustration or show their anger. Kerber, on the other hand, grabbed her bag after leaving the grandstand, put a towel around her shoulders, waved half-heartedly towards the audience and disappeared into the catacombs. And as she sat 31 minutes later in the press conference, she replied as always quite emotionless and monotonous. "Every year is different, 2019 was not my best year and I have to deal with that," said Kerber.
The search for a coach continues
When she failed at the Australian Open at the beginning of the year as the number two seedling in the second round, this was mainly because of the clarity of the defeat - 0: 6, 2: 6 against the rather unknown Danielle Collins from the US - a surprise. In the end, however, reaching this round of the top 16 was by far the best Grand Slam result of 2019 for Kerbers. They lost at the subsequent French Open - as in the US Open in round one. After the early end in Wimbledon Kerber separated from coach Rainer Schüttler. Since then, she has been without a coach - and has lost all three games played.
She "decided to travel alone to New York," Kerber said. Boris Becker considers that just a mistake. "If not the penny has fallen, then when," said the 51-year-old, who is an expert on Eurosport in New York. He could not understand, Becker continued that Kerber had started without a coach. All top ten players have a coach at their side.
But Kerber pushes the trainer theme in front of him like others an appointment for root canal treatment at the dentist. And a quick fix does not seem in sight. She wants to "make the right decision" and she has "enough time" to decide. Because the season is not long. And then she even became defiant: "I lost because I lack match practice and self-confidence, but not because I do not have a coach, I'm sure."
In the coach question Kerber acts as disoriented as on the tennis court.