Why Kerber shouldn’t be worried… yet

Courtesy of a staggering breakout season in 2016, Angelique Kerber has gone from hunting the top prizes to being the hunted.

As the world No.1, having clinched the Australian Open and US Open last campaign, Kerber now enters the court with an added pressure.

The German chose to kick-start her season at the Brisbane International once again with contrasting fortunes.

Rewind to 2016 and Kerber progressed to the final, but in 2017 the first impressions have been less than convincing.

Having received a first round bye, the 28-year-old fended off inspired Aussie wildcard Ash Barty in three sets before succumbing to world No.14 Elina Svitolina on Thursday night.

It’s early doors, so no alarm bells yet. However Kerber led the Ukrainian by a break in the decider before surrendering the initiative to lose five of the last six games 6-4 3-6 6-3.

Svitolina was in the groove, producing a spectacular finale, but Kerber struck 48 unforced errors and struggled on serve in both Brisbane battles.

Yet despite the early exit, Kerber is determined to reflect positively ahead of playing Sydney next week, denying this loss could affect her confidence at retaining the Australian Open title later this month.

Kerber is adamant Grand Slam tennis is “completely different” and paid credit to her opponent.

“It was still a good match for both of us,” she said. “We really played at a high level tonight.

“Of course I’m obviously disappointed with how I lost in the quarters,” added the world No.1. “(But) I can take the positives out of the tournament.”

A vital area for improvement at Melbourne Park will be Kerber’s serve. She struggled for free points and whilst facing Barty the German struck nine double faults.

“I’m not worried about my serve. I know I can improve it, but that’s the second match of the year, the first tournament.”

Kerber was right to credit Svitolina. The powerful pocket rocket has patiently climbed the rankings and relishes the big occasion.

She defeated Serena Williams at the Rio Olympics as well as Kerber in their previous encounter in Beijing.

Svitolina has now closed her head-to-head with Kerber to 5-4 in favour of the top-ranked player, something between the two aggressive ball strikers just clicks when they duel.

Also, it’s easy to forget that Kerber’s path to glory on Rod Laver Arena in January was far from smooth.

Yes Kerber was a Brisbane International finalist last season, but was dismantled 6-3 6-1 by Victoria Azarenka.

Then in Sydney she had to withdraw after just one match, which  was another pulsating three set contest with Svitolina.

Over to Melbourne Park and Kerber was forced to fend off a match point in the 1st round against Misaki Doi.

Was that the trigger point? Kerber then gained revenge over Azarenka and navigated past Serena Williams to lift the trophy.

Kerber will be eager to ignite her 2017. It’s not long until she’ll be gracing the grounds of Melbourne Park again, so the Sydney International will be vital to fine tune her game.

The reigning Australian Open champion has assembled a remarkable ability to deal with adversity and rebounding quickly from tough losses.

For now Kerber’s legion of fans can breathe easy.