“I was really looking forward to playing in New York but two against one just isn’t a fair competition,” said Angelique Kerber when jokingly announcing her pregnancy on social media before the 2022 US Open – and then took time off for maternity leave.

The Porsche Brand Ambassador is one of the world’s most successful women tennis players. In her super year in 2016, she topped the world ranking after Grand Slam wins in Melbourne and New York. She was first German to do so since Steffi Graf in 1997. As equally impressive as the successes was the energy with which she fought her way out of the downturn that followed the heady heights. She came back and fulfilled her big tennis dream by winning Wimbledon in 2018.

On the way to becoming the No. 1, she had got over many setbacks and had learnt from defeats and victories. She described the way she managed it all in her autobiography “A Question of Will” that was published in 2022. He successes are a spur not only for the hopeful talents that are jointly fostered by Porsche and the German Tennis Association in the Porsche Talent Team and the Porsche Junior Team. Her strong will and irrepressible belief in herself make her a role model for young people far beyond the bounds of sport.

“I’m still around and can still win”

After the corona pandemic and an unlucky start to the 2021 start to the season in Australia, the new Porsche supported WTA tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany was one of many turning points in her career. “Holding the trophy high as the winner was one of the moments, I work so hard for,” said Angelique Kerber looking back. “I was so happy that fans were back in the stadium, and I could show them that I’m still around and I can still win.”

Afterwards in Wimbledon, she reached the semifinals and then went on to play impressively at the US Open. She won her last tournament to date in Strasbourg in 2022. However, the successes Germany’s top women’s player enjoyed in the past years did not come overnight as she says: “To be successful, one has to work hard on oneself, one needs lots of discipline and patience but also passion and fun.,” she says. “One has to pick oneself up after defeats and continue down one’s path. One can’t have the wins without the losses.”

Angelique Kerber has been a Porsche Brand Ambassador since 2015. Her fighting spirit coupled with her stamina and dynamism are attributes that are also a feature of Porsche. The feeling of going out onto court with the Porsche patch is something she also enjoys as a member of Porsche Team Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup. However, being a Brand Ambassador is something personal she says, special and for an individualist like herself, it takes on even greater magnitude. “I’m proud and happy to be able to represent such a prestigious company like Porsche as a brand ambassador. It’s a big honour for me.”

Angelique Kerber was born in Bremen on 18 January 1988. Her mother Beata is German, father Slawek comes from Poland. She has played tennis for as long as she can think. As a teenager she was a competitive swimmer but after passing her school leaving exams at the age of 16, she decided to embark on a career as a professional tennis player. Angelique Kerber’s big breakthrough came in 2011 when, unseeded, she was the first German to reach the semi-finals of the US Open for 15 years. In February 2012, she claimed her first title on the WTA Tour by winning the indoor tournament in Paris.

Wonderful memories of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

As the team’s No. 1, she led Porsche Team Germany to the Fed Cup final in 2014. In 2015, she won four WTA tournaments – including the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart for the first time. 2016 was not only most successful year of her career up until then due to her claiming the Grand Slam titles in Melbourne and New York. She was also the runner-up in Wimbledon, at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the WTA Finals in Singapore – and repeated her win at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. “I associate so many wonderful memories with Stuttgart,” she says.

Her maternity leave does not mean the end of her career. “I’ll try to get back to fitness as quickly as possible and return to the Tour. And I’ll go for it again,” she says. “An aim is the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. I’d like to play there whatever happens. It’s a while away, so there’s no pressure on me.”