Angelique Kerber: with health in question, can she retain the No. 1 ranking?

Angelique Kerber is once again the world No. 1 in women’s singles tennis. Will she be healthy enough to retain her ranking in the coming weeks?

Angelique Kerber’s health is in question right as she regains the world No. 1 ranking.

Players always struggle with the situation of playing and trying to win but it’s a different thing when they start developing ailments and injuries, wondering if they’ve rehabbed completely to be able to win matches again.

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It was the third round of the 2017 Madrid Open that Angelique Kerber was trailing 6-3, 5-0 with opponent Eugenie Bouchard hot on her trail to close the match out and call it hers.

Kerber was starting to feel great discomfort. The left hamstring muscle she had started to hold was the problem and she knew that it was time to ‘fold it’ for the day. But that wasn’t the only time that Kerber had been plagued with injury and even illness to hamper her abilities to continue or not play at all.

Last year’s Sydney International found Kerber withdrawing from the event with a stomach ailment and then again a week or so later retiring from the Volvo Car Open with a viral illness. Then it was at the Charleston event that Kerber was ill.

"She confessed that she wasn’t feeling well while warming up but says “I was thinking the energy will come back and I will be feeling ok”."

It was a left shoulder injury at last year’s French Open with Kerber being upset by Kiki Bertens in three sets at the opening rounds and previously had lost her opening-round matches in last year’s Madrid and Rome events.

"Kerber said last year about her injuries that “It’s getting worse and worse, but I hope it’s not too bad”. As for now, it’s Kerber’s hamstring of which she says “I am feeling much better, I mean I did a check, after my match in Madrid and I’m lucky it’s not too bad, it’s just a muscle strain”."

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It seems like it’s the same with her injuries creeping up again at a similar time this 2017 season.

"Angelique Kerber is nearly always optimistic and says “I’ve had a lot of treatments. I arrived last night [in Rome], practised this morning and feeling good”."

Kerber hopes that she will have her injury attended to and will attempt to play, no matter what it takes because she considers herself an athlete and a champion and has many goals in tennis to accomplish with winning another title being one of them.

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