Angelique Kerber is finding herself to be a big star in Germany following the Australian Open, but she says she's ready to handle the attention.
Kerber returned home to see her parents, and found a big party organized for her with about 40 or 50 people.
"I went straight home, yeah," she told press members before the WTA tournament in Doha. "We had a great evening with all my [family], all my friends there. They came so we had a big, big table. That was something really special for me, because all the people [know] my career. They know me from really young."
Plenty of others contacted her, with Kerber saying she spent days responding to text messages.
The 28-year-old also recounted the reaction she got from the public when she arrived in Germany.
“I had a lot of camera[s] on my [face] and asking me a lot of questions,” she said. “…For me the most nicest thing was that I really saw the people, that they are happy for me and that all Germany was watching the final on TV, because it was Saturday morning there. And to see that a lot of people recognize me on the streets."
Now ranked No. 2, Kerber played Fed Cup the following week and took the court as the top seed at Doha. She lost her second-round match, 7-5, 6-1, to unseeded Saisai Zheng.
She anticipates that being an established Top 10 player should help her adjust to her new stature, and wants to keep working hard and enjoying the game.
"Right now, I think it's the best time for me personally to have the success, or the biggest moment in my career,” she said. "It's important now to still stay focusing on my tennis, on my improvement, on how I would like to play."
Doha was Kerber's fourth WTA event of the season.