Kerber seeks reversal of fortunes in Singapore
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[October 22, 2016]
By John O'Brien
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Angelique Kerber
showed more passion in the media center than on the court when she
crashed out of last year's WTA Finals, the German angered by the
format and frustrated by her inability to win the set off an
eliminated opponent she needed to advance.
Her petulance then provided a sideshow to the eight-woman
season-ending tournament but this year she returns as world number
one, a double grand slam winner, Olympic silver medalist and a woman
on a mission.
Prior to 2016, the 28-year-old from Bremen was a respected
professional on the circuit and a regular winner on the WTA Tour yet
despite her incredible athleticism and retrieving skills, Kerber's
mental fragility could be exploited by the very best.
"For me last year it was not the best tournament with the pressure
with the one set that I had in my mind," Kerber told reporters on
Saturday.
"But it's nice to be back here. I will just try to do it better than
last year.
"This is my goal when I start the year. Coming back here right now
as the top seed is a little bit better feeling than last year."
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This year, Kerber decided a change of attitude was needed and she
vowed never let her emotions get the better of her again. That new
maturity was evident when she made a solid start to the season but
few could have predicted her meteoric rise.
DIGGING DEEP
The German had a poor record at slams and when she faced a match
point in her Australian Open first round encounter against Japan's
Misaki Doi, another early exit beckoned.
She dug deep, though, and turned the match around to set the
foundations for a campaign in which she defied the odds to claim the
Melbourne crown and last month's U.S. Open on a remarkable journey
that has taken her top of the rankings.
The woman she usurped, 22-times grand slam winner Serena Williams,
is not in Singapore for a second year running due to a shoulder
injury but Kerber knows the other seven women in the field will all
believe they too have a chance to win.
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![](../images/102216pics/sports49.jpg)
World number one tennis player Angelique Kerber of Germany poses
during an interview in Singapore October 20, 2016. REUTERS/Patrick
Johnston
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Her main rival is likely to be defending champion Agnieszka
Radwanska, who claimed the biggest win of her career in Singapore a
year ago and has the retrieving skills to match Kerber but offers a
little more guile than the powerful German.
The 27-year-old Pole is one of the fittest players on the tour and
her China Open victory earlier this month suggests she will be fresh
and in form when the eight-day tournament kicks off at the Singapore
Indoor Stadium on Sunday.
French Open champion Garbine Muguruza arrives under an injury cloud
but the Spaniard played well enough here last year to suggest she
could challenge, while Romania's Simona Halep made the Singapore
final in 2014 so can also not be discounted.
Kerber and Halep have been drawn in the Red Group, alongside
American Madison Keys and Slovak Dominika Cibulkova. Radwanska and
Muguruza are in the White Group with Czech Karolina Pliskova and
either Briton Johanna Konta or Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Russia's Kuznetsova will replace Konta in the draw if she beats
Australia's Daria Gavrilova in the Kremlin Cup final in Moscow on
Saturday.
(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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