Twelve months ago, when Angelique Kerber started her Australian Open campaign, few really took notice of her, especially not after her first round performance against the world No 64 from Japan Misaki Doi, where she had to save a match point to survive.
Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka were creating all the buzz at the time, and Kerber, flying under the radar, found few people championing her cause even after dumping Azarenka out in straight sets at the quarter-final stage.
In the final against overwhelming favourite Williams, though, Kerber thrived as the underdog, battling to a victory that launched her march to the No 1 spot in 2016.
Now, 12 months later, the roles are reversed. She had nothing to lose back then. Now, she has points to defend and has to live with the constant scrutiny that follows the top-ranked player.
Also, for the first time in her career, Kerber is the hunted and, in her first two tournaments of the year, she seems to have struggled to cope with that.
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In Brisbane, where she lost in the final to Azarenka 12 months ago, Kerber was stretched to the third set by No 271 Ashleigh Barty before being dumped out by No 14 Elina Svitolina in the second round.
In Sydney, she lost to No 26 Daria Kasatkina in straight sets after a first-round bye.
Kerber’s Australian Open preparations, then, have been far from ideal and the German knows it will only get tougher in Melbourne.
For the first time in her career that spans 36 majors, Kerber will arrive at a grand slam as defending champion and the German can feel the difference.
“The pressure is for sure a little bit higher than last year,” Kerber was quoted as saying on the Australian Open website.
“I have much more things to do this year than 12 months ago. Everywhere I am going, I go to the restaurant and airport or whatever, it’s a little bit bigger than it was before.”
That pressure is a heavy burden to carry. A glance at the list of the women’s grand slam winners shows few, barring Serena, have successfully defended their crown the following year.
Azarenka did it at the Australian Open (2012 and 2013), Justine Henin at the French (2005, 2006 and 2007), Venus Williams at Wimbledon (2007 and 2008) and Kim Clijsters at the US Open (2009 and 2010).
In that list, Azarenka is the only first-time grand slam champion to come back and defend her crown.
So Kerber has an enormous task ahead and her mettle will surely be tested.
arizvi@thenational.ae
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