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Melbourne (AP) - Angelique Kerber felt a little painful at her first training in Melbourne.
The 33-year-old had only spent two weeks in strict quarantine in her hotel room before she was finally allowed to go to the training ground.
"When I woke up, I thought, ok, tennis is really a tough sport because you can feel your whole body," she said with a smile on Tuesday about her unfamiliar experience the morning after.
Now, a few days later, everything feels fine.
Five years after her first Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open, the Kiel woman is facing an extraordinary challenge in this special place.
In a nutshell, Kerber is preparing for the first Grand Slam tournament of the season, which begins on February 8th, after her forced training break.
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This Wednesday, on the German morning, the former number one in the world joins the lively tennis circus in Melbourne Park, where several tournaments are being held at the same time this week.
The Grampians Trophy is organized at short notice especially for the players who, unlike others, were not allowed to leave their room and train for five hours a day after their entry.
Kerber is in eighth position and meets the Czech Katerina Siniakova in the first round, against whom she surprisingly lost one of her few matches in Rome in 2020.
After her puzzling first-round failure at the French Open at the end of September, Kerber had withdrawn and also thought about the end of her career, but then started the season with her new and old coach Torben Beltz.
However, their preparation quickly became less valuable in Australia.
Kerber was one of the 72 professionals and supervisors who were affected by the fact that there had been positive cases of the corona virus on flights.
For two weeks there was a lot of watching Netflix, making calls and doing fitness with a mat, dumbbells, medicine ball and a treadmill - but no tennis.
When she heard about the “hard lockdown” for herself, she was “a little shocked” at first.
"Is that really true?" She thought, but quickly accepted.
“In recent years I have learned to remain more relaxed and not get upset about things that I cannot change anyway,” Kerber said in an interview that her sponsor had distributed: “In times of Corona there are so many people who have severe blows of fate suffer and fear for their livelihoods.
In contrast, two weeks of quarantine in a hotel room are nothing to complain about.
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Eurosport expert Boris Becker recently criticized the lack of equal opportunities: “The question of whether these are fair conditions for everyone has to be asked.
As an organizer you have to ask yourself: Is that correct, is it reasonable? "
Kerber said she didn't want to get upset about it: "We should all be happy that the Australian Open is taking place at all."
Her quarantine ended on Saturday night, and around midnight she had trained again for the first time.
Since then, the world rankings 25.
like the others in Melbourne move freely and also enjoyed a detour to St. Kilda Beach.
The quarantine takes the pressure off her, says Kerber.
A situation that actually suits her better.
"I can even enjoy the sport more than before," she said.
A first round win should help.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210202-99-269618 / 2
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Kerber interview from Porsche
WTA report on Kerber
game schedule
Tableau Grampians Trophy