Angelique Kerber slides into clay-court rhythm with dominant start to Rome campaign

ROME, Italy—Angelique Kerber is feeling decidedly at home on the clay courts at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia: the former world No. 1 has dropped just four games through her first two matches and is into the third-round of her first clay-court WTA 1000 tournament since 2021.

“It’s a good win for me, especially on clay,” she said after a 6-3, 6-0 victory over No. 17 seed Veronika Kudermetova. “I was feeling good so far. I’ve had not so many matches on clay, so it’s always good to have one more match on the surface.”

Kerber has claimed victories at three of the four major tournaments, but clay has long been her bugbear, never making it past the quarterfinals of Roland Garros in 15 previous appearances. Playing her first season since giving birth to daughter Liana, the new mom began this clay swing under the radar after an illness at the Billie Jean King Cup led to an early exit from the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

“The transition to clay is always tough for me,” sighed Kerber, who is famously no fan of practice. “There’s the longer rallies, the ball bounces much higher, and you have to adapt as well as possible. You also have to be ready mentally to start the fight out there.”

The 36-year-old has looked sharp as ever at the Foro Italico, backing up a 6-1, 6-0 win over American Lauren Davis to dismiss Kudermetova in barely an hour out on Court 12.

“I feel good so far, but I’m just looking from day to day and match to match,” Kerber told me succinctly in the mixed zone after the match.

As a traveling and working mom, Kerber was pleased with her scheduling on Thursday, one that let her get back to her family and prepare for her next match.

“You need to find your routine, your rhythm, and it all takes time, for sure,” Kerber said of balancing career and motherhood. “It’s a new situation for me, my team, and everyone. I also enjoy time off that much more now. It was great to have a really early match today, so I can enjoy today and tomorrow as well. But of course, it’s a completely new situation from what I had before.”

The 2012 Rome semifinalist will likely treat herself to a culinary one-two punch of spaghetti carbonara before she takes qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich, who upset No. 14 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova. Top seed Iga Swiatek looms as a possible fourth-round opponent.