Greg Garber, Senior Writer 7y

Kerber looks to complete career year with Singapore win

Tennis

Angelique Kerber's 2015 appearance at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals in Singapore was, at the time, not at all memorable.

But her 6-4, 6-3 loss against Lucie Safarova might now be remembered as the catalyst for Kerber's massive makeover in 2016.

After winning her first Grand Slam singles title in January at the Australian Open and adding a second at the US Open, the world No. 1 will try to punctuate her next-level season with another crown when she returns to Singapore next week (coverage begins Sunday on ESPN3).

"It would be pretty special to go back to where she found the inspiration to make the change and win it," said ESPN analyst Pam Shriver. "She'd be the runaway player of the year, and that would be a Serena-like year."

Kerber's year-end history in Singapore far from stellar (she has won two of nine matches in three previous appearances), and winning a single set in that final round-robin match against Safarova would have sent her into the semifinals. But Kerber predictably tightened up (a once-haunting hallmark since her WTA debut in 2003) and the opportunity evaporated. She was furious. This led to some serious soul-searching, which, 10 weeks later, yielded the surprising result in Melbourne.

Kerber, always a tenacious and talented defender, had an epiphany similar to Andy Murray, who, under coach Ivan Lendl, overcame the habit of centering the ball when under duress. Kerber, working with her longtime coach Torben Beltz, has summoned the confidence to be more aggressive when the stakes are highest.

"I learned a lot of things the last year," Kerber acknowledged before the US Open. "I had to win one set and I [put] completely too much pressure on myself. That's why I will not [be] thinking too much. I am here playing tennis. Is what I love to do."

She ran the table at the Australian Open, surviving a match point in the first round and stunning Victoria Azarenka in the quarterfinals and Serena Williams in the final. Kerber is the favorite in Singapore and will retain the No. 1 ranking no matter what happens since Williams (shoulder injury) pulled out of the event earlier this week.

Hoisting that first Grand Slam trophy, though, proved to be a shock to Kerber's system. What happens when your dream comes true? When, after years of sacrifice and relentless effort, you achieve the highest honor in your profession? It took a while to process.

After the Aussie Open win, Kerber lost in the first round at Doha and Indian Wells. After winning Stuttgart at home in Germany in April, she lost her first matches outdoors on clay, in Madrid and Rome. In her first Slam after Australia, nursing a shoulder injury, she suffered a surprising first-round loss against Kiki Bertens at the French Open. She was asked after that loss if she thought the pressure of trying to follow up on her first major title was getting to her.

"I came here to play round by round, and I know that you must play your best tennis in the first rounds, as well, because everybody is a tough opponent to play," Kerber said. "I was trying it. That was for sure not my best tennis I played today."

She dramatically turned things around over the summer. Kerber beat No. 5-ranked Simona Halep (quarterfinals) and No. 8 Venus Williams (semifinals) before losing to Serena in the Wimbledon final. But Kerber continued her momentum, reaching the semifinals at Montreal, the gold-medal match at the Rio Olympics and the final in Cincinnati, where she lost against Karolina Pliskova. Kerber avenged that defeat in her rousing three-set victory in the US Open final.

If those bookend major titles looked and felt like something a little different, they were.

The last active WTA player not named Serena to win two majors in the same year? It was Venus, 15 years ago, taking Wimbledon and the US Open. Serena has won at least two Grand Slam singles titles in the same year an astonishing seven times, (2002, '03, '09, '10, '12, '13 and '15).

That's the kind of exalted company Kerber now finds herself keeping.

A year ago, it was her loss in Singapore that kick-started Kerber's superb breakthrough season. If she can once again push herself into uncharted territory with a few round-robin wins, it would put her in a commanding position going into 2017.

"To go into the season-ending championship as the favorite and the No. 1 player, that's unreal," ESPN analyst Mary Joe Fernandez said. "Two Slams, a silver medal [at the Rio Olympics] and then a title [in Singapore] -- that would be icing on the cake."

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