BERLIN: Germany’s Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber brought the hype of her victory all the way from Melbourne to Leipzig on Wednesday ahead of her country’s Fed Cup tie against Switzerland.
The 28-year-old has been bombarded by reporters’ questions since beating Serena Williams in Saturday’s final to win her first Grand Slam title.
Her Germany teammates got a taste of the buzz surrounding Kerber in their press conference for this weekend’s World Group first-round matches against the Swiss.
’How German are you?’, ‘what do you think of the Zika virus?’, ‘what are you doing with your prize money?’ were just a few of the questions Kerber, now ranked number two in the world, faced from around 80 reporters in Leipzig.
Kerber was even left momentarily speechlesss when asked when she thinks tennis star Ana Ivanovic will marry her boyfriend Bastian Schweinsteiger, the captain of the German football team.
Kerber’s team-mate Andrea Petkovic joked how Germany’s Fed Cup team should enjoy the hype of a full press conference room: “or we’d just have been standing here in front of two people and we might as well have held it (the press conference) in the loo.”
Since jetting home from Melbourne on Sunday night, Kerber has been in hot demand by the German media and endured a relentless whirlwind of interviews since touching down in Frankfurt in the early hours of Monday morning.
Germany’s Fed Cup captain Barbara Rittner is aware of the burden on her newly-elevated star player.
“This is a balancing act for all of us, but especially for Angie,” said Rittner, a good friend of German tennis icon Steffi Graf.
“We have to check off this great experience and find some focus.
“It will be crucial to leave everything behind on Saturday.”
Rittner hopes to draw a line under the hype from Thursday onwards.
“Then I will focus only on the first game on Saturday,” said Kerber.
The Swiss will not be an easy opponent with veteran Martina Hingis ranked number one in the world for doubles, while both Belinda Bencic and Timea Bacsinzky are in the top 15.
In contrast, Kerber is the only German player ranked in the top 20.
“Every match will be open. Form on the day and team spirit will decide it,” said Rittner.
Federer out for month
In Basel, Switzerland, seventeen-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer underwent “successful” surgery on his knee Wednesday and will be ruled out of action for one month, his agent said.
Federer underwent the surgery to repair a torn meniscus sustained the day after his semifinal match at the Australian Open, according to Tony Godsick.
As a result of the surgery, Federer will now miss the ATP tournaments in Rotterdam and Dubai this month.
“I am so disappointed to have to miss Rotterdam and Dubai as they are two of my favorite tournaments on the ATP World Tour,” Federer said.
“While this is an unfortunate setback, I feel grateful that up until now I have remained mostly healthy throughout my career. My doctors have assured me that the surgery was a success and with proper rehabilitation, I will be able to return to the Tour soon.”
The 34-year-old Swiss great suffered a four-set defeat by eventual winner Novak Djokovic in the Australian Open semifinals, going down 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in his eighth loss to the Serb in their last 10 Grand Slam meetings.
Federer hasn’t beaten the runaway world number one at a major since the Wimbledon semifinals in 2012, when he last won a Grand Slam title.
Unlike great rival Rafael Nadal, Federer has enjoyed a relatively injury-free career, the exception being bouts of recurring back pain.
The last time that happened was at the 2014 ATP World Tour Finals in London when he withdrew at the last minute from the final against Djokovic.
The following week, however, he returned to action and helped Switzerland win the Davis Cup for the first time, defeating France in the final.
Kerber hype rubs off on Germany’s Fed Cup bid
