Angelique Kerber was born on January 18, 1988, in Bremen, Germany, to her Polish parents, Slawomir and Beata. She also has a sister named Jessica. The German began playing tennis at the age of 3 and plays left-handed despite being naturally right-handed.
Kerber first came onto the WTA Tour in 2007. She spent the next three years developing her game and seeking to get better at that level. Her first WTA final then came on the clay courts at the Copa Colsanitas in February 2010, where she lost 4-6, 3-6 in the final to Mariana Duque Marino.
The German had an unexpected run to the semifinal of the 2011 US Open. Her run featured a win against future Wimbledon finalist Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round. She narrowly missed out on the final by losing 3-6, 6-3, 2-6 to the eventual champion Samantha Stosur.
The following year brought another Grand Slam semifinal at Wimbledon, which included a 6-1, 6-1 thrashing of four-time Grand Slam slam winner Kim Clijsters. However, Radwanska beat Kerber 6-3, 6-4 to make the Wimbledon final appearance that was mentioned previously.
2012 also saw Kerber progress to her first WTA 1000 final in Cincinnati. She took the opening set against Li Na in the final but succumbed to a 6-1, 3-6, 1-6 defeat. More positively, Kerber claimed maiden WTA titles at the Open GDF Suez on hard courts and at the Danish Open on clay.
Kerber reached two more WTA 1000 finals in 2013 and 2014 at the Japan Open in Tokyo and the Qatar Open in Doha, but they also ended in defeat. She had huge success at WTA 500 tournaments in 2015 by winning four titles at that level. But no one in the tennis world predicted the incredible success Kerber then had in 2016.
The 2016 Australian Open was the scene of Kerber’s first Grand Slam title. She prevailed against two-time champion in Melbourne, Victoria Azarenka, on her way to the final. Her contest with Serena Williams in the final was terrific viewing, and Kerber earned a maiden Grand Slam title by triumphing 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
A second Grand Slam final then came at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships, where Kerber stormed to the final without dropping a set. This included a semifinal victory against Venus Williams. But Serena Williams avenged her Australian Open defeat by beating Kerber 7-5, 6-3 in the final.
However, there was no hangover from that loss. At the US Open, she made a second consecutive Grand Slam final without dropping a set. The final against Karolina Pliskova was a very tight battle, but Kerber secured a second Grand Slam title with a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 win.
Kerber was also the runner-up at the 2016 WTA Finals. She lost that final 3-6, 4-6 to Dominika Cibulkova. In addition, the German became a runner-up at the WTA 1000 level for a fourth time in Cincinnati. After her stunning season, Kerber ended 2016 as the No. 1 ranked player in the world.
Understandably, she could not sustain that level in 2017 and did not win any titles. Yet, more stunning success came at Wimbledon in 2018. Kerber won her third Grand Slam title at SW19. This was achieved by triumphing 6-3, 6-3 against Serena Williams in the final to avenge her final defeat to the same player two years previously.
Kerber reached a fifth WTA 1000 final at the 2019 Indian Wells Open. Unfortunately, it was the fifth time unlucky at the 1000 level after losing 4-6, 6-3, 4-6 to Bianca Andreescu. She subsequently claimed her 13th and 14th WTA titles in 2021 and 2022 at the Bad Homburg Open and the Internationaux de Strasbourg.
