German legend Kerber retires with 'biggest success'

Angelique Kerber of Germany concluded her illustrious career with a loss to China's Zheng Qinwen in a heart-wrenching quarterfinal at the Paris Olympics.

Despite the defeat, Kerber celebrated the match as the "biggest success" of her career, marking the end of her journey in professional tennis with a testament to her resilience and skill.

Both players were under immense pressure ahead of the match. Zheng, the sole remaining Chinese singles player, was aiming to carry her team's hopes, while Kerber, who announced her retirement following the Paris 2024 Games, strived to extend her career a bit longer.

In the opener, Zheng found it hard to respond Kerber's looping shots that went high in the sky, and she failed to play with her own rhythm. The Australian Open runner-up leveled the first set from 1-3 to 3-3 to 5-5 and then 6-6, but finally lost the tie-break to Kerber 4-7.

Zheng seemed to find a solution against Kerber after the first hour, sending powerful shots and returning balls to far corners, which helped her to take the second set.

A torrential downpour forced the retractable roof over the Philippe-Chatrier court into action in the final set. The rain drummed loudly on the roof, while the roller-coaster match reached its climax.

The atmosphere was electric as Kerber, leading 4-1, looked poised to prolong her tennis career. However, Zheng displayed tenacity, tying the score at 4-4. In the final tie-break, both players alternated winning points, with Kerber coming from 2-5 down to a 6-6 tie. After more than three hours, Zheng secured the deciding set, 7-6 (6).

"I gave everything I could on court and I think this is what counts for me, especially coming here, playing great matches, feeling that I can still play with the top players and having this decision in my hands, to have no injuries," said Kerber.

"I cannot stop better than here, playing for your country, playing on Chatrier, such a great crowd and I just tried my best," she noted in the mixed zone.

Starting to play tennis at the age of three, Kerber has been a celebrated player renowned for her impressive career, especially in the year of 2016, when she reached the world No. 1 and held the position for 34 weeks.

In her whole career, she claimed the Australian Open and US Open titles in 2016, and also lifting the Wimbledon crown in 2018, making her the greatest Germany tennis player of her time.

Kerber chose to step out of her career for more than a year after she gave birth to her daughter Liana in February 2023. "It's not easy to come back after 18 months of break. But at the end, I tried everything I could," recalled the German.

However tough it was, Kerber impressed the world with her return, as she downed four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka and former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez, before leading Zheng to play in her rhythm in the Paris Olympics.

"I think Kerber is one of the special players, because she doesn't hit the ball the fastest, neither does she run the fastest, but she's able to get three slams, which means her mental strength is really hard," said Zheng after the match.

"Everybody knows how difficult it is to play Serena Williams in the final. I watched Kerber's match against Serena for a lot of times, I saw her running all over the court, her mentality was unbelievable," Zheng added. "I want to say congratulations to her amazing career and wish her enjoy the retire life."

For Kerber, having Zheng, a world top 10 player, as her last opponent in the exhausted match at Olympics as her last one means a lot. "She's a great player, and she's young, she'll have a long career," commented Kerber.

"This [match against Zheng] is actually how I played during my career. I showed that I never give up, I tried everything until the end," said the 36-year-old German.