by Pete Bodo
WIMBLEDON—Although Angelique Kerber has bubbled up into the Top 10 and has become the highest ranked German woman (at No. 8) since Steffi Graf, she's still relatively unknown. That's a little unusual, because this left-hander has a pretty big game that's hard to miss. She also has more wins than anyone on the tour this year (she's 41-11), including such un-missables as world No. 1 Maria Sharapova and No. 2 Victoria Azarenka.
Kerber's rise has been almost otherworldly. Last year, she lost in the first round at the first three Grand Slam events, then punched through to the semis at the U.S. Open. In her first 15 majors, Kerber was 7-15; in her last three, she's 12-3 (counting the first round here). Before this year, Kerber was 0-11 against Top 10 opponents; this year she's a dead-even 6-6 on that score. Her florescence is nothing less than remarkable. I figured it was time to see what all the non-fuss is about, if you know what I mean.
Kerber was assigned today to meet Ekaterina Makarova, who led their head-to-head 2-1 and, unlike Kerber, has won a title on grass (Eastbourne, 2010). They were out on show court No. 18. That's a great court for watching tennis, with a small press section right in the corner near the south baseline. Ekaterina is one of those players who easily gets lost in the shuffle of "ovas," even though she's pretty hard to overlook at nearly six feet tall with a long blonde French braid trailing like Rapunzel's rope.
By contrast, Kerber is—how do you put this politely, given that this is a lady—substantial? Thick? Squat, but in a good way? For the record, Kerber is 5'8", but those serious quads and powerful if smooth upper body and arms (think Jo-Wilfried Tsonga) create the impression that she's shorter. The upside of her build is that she has a very solid power plant that gets her where she needs to go with a low center of gravity and better mobility than you expect. She needed both today, in a battle of leftys—a pairing that usually leads to at least a little weirdness.
Makarova, who's reminscent of Helena Sukova, is one of those players whose limbs appear to be hinged, so she naturally looks a little herky-jerky. But she's got a solid backhand and good serve, which is a particularly significant advantage on grass. That only makes those service breaks extra special.
Using her great reach and powerful if volatile forehand, Makarova quickly scored a break. Kerber looked a little cranky, as if she's just been awakened from a nap. There's nothing manic about her, though. She frowned, tugged the duckbill vison a little tighter over her blonde locks, and dug in her heels. I never saw Lew Hoad play live, but from the way he's been described—as "bullish" and given to whacking the ball so hard and true, with so little seeming effort that it left opponents with stingers—I thought of Kerber as a bit like that in female form, although she doesn't come close, even in relative terms, in raw power.
From 2-3 down, Kerber held serve. After a quick hold by Makarova, Kerber fell behind 0-40 on her serve. A string of forehand winners brought her back level, but Makarova hung tough. She had another break chance, but at the end of a terrific point that had a little of everything, Kerber forced a forehand error. She went on to hold with an unreturnable drop shot. It was a great escape, but Makarova still wound up serving for the set at 5-4. I'm not sure why so many lefthanders have unstable forehands, but Makarova's began to let her down in that critical game, and Kerber ended up breaking to pull even at 5-all.
After Kerber held, Makarova found herself staring at one of the archetypal "must-win" situations in tennis: Serving at 5-6 to get to the tiebreaker after having blown a lead late in the set.
The 12th game is a bear, and one thing about such situations is that your chances of surviving it increase if you can at least get into the points, initiate a rally. That can get you over the anxiety hump, which can be formidable when you serve, or play your first shot. Makarova couldn't hurdle it on either of the first two points. She smacked a backhand approach wide off Kerber's first return, and took too big a cut with the forehand at a semi lob, driving the ball out. 0-30.
To her credit, Makarova won the next two points, thanks to Kerber errors. But another shaky forehand answer to a service return went awry, bringing Kerber to set point. A bold serve-and-approach shot combo wiped away that set point, and Makarova reached game point. But Kerber won the next point with a forehand that sent chalk flying, passed Makarova after she threw in a sloppy drop shot, and won the game—and set—after a long rally that ended with another forehand error by Makarova. It was bold, free-swinging tennis at a desperate time.
Tracking the rest on television, I had a sense Kerber would win, and she did. I was reminded once again how representative the 12th game can be of a player's competitive fitness, and felt satisfied that I'd gained some insight into how Kerber has remade herself from a journeywoman into a contender at Wimbledon.
(Kerber had to play doubles, so her interviews were deferred until much later today. I may update this or follow-up on another day when I get her own thoughts on some of these issues).