The Main Draw for the 2022 French Open will begin on May 22. The focus on this year’s French Open will center on Novak Djokovic on the men’s side as he hopes to defend his 2021 title and will be playing in his first major of the year after being deported from Australia in January. On the women’s side, Iga Swiatek is the favorite to win and she’ll be riding her 28 match win streak with the hope of winning her 6th straight WTA singles title of 2022. She’ll also be looking to win her 2nd title at Roland Garros, having previously won in 2020 against American Sofia Kenin. Yet, there is one player on the WTA Tour still looking for an ever elusive milestone and that’s German Angie Kerber.
Kerber is a three-time major champion having won three of the four majors in her career. With wins at the 2016 Australian Open, 2016 U.S. Open, and 2018 Wimbledon, along with being a former World Number 1, Kerber has established herself as one of the more elite tennis players on the Tour, but she remains in search of achieving the Career Grand Slam. Her best results at Roland Garros came in 2012 and 2018 where she advanced to the quarterfinals both years. In 2012, Angie lost to Italian Sara Errani in the French Open quarters. Errani was the runner-up to Russian Maria Sharapova that year. In 2018, she lost to Romanian Simona Halep. Halep went on to win the 2018 title against American Sloane Stephens. Kerber has not advanced to the French Open quarters since then. Though no stranger to success, Kerber seems to always have problems at the clay court major and now it seems as if the window to capture the Career Grand Slam is closing on her with each passing year. Though, we shouldn’t rule her out considering that she has been a consistent winner on Tour with 13 singles titles since the start of 2012.
Angie Kerber made her WTA debut in 2003. She won her first two WTA singles titles in 2012. She was victorious at the 2012 Open GDF Suez against French Player Marion Bartoli. She won the 2012 Danish Open against Dane Caroline Wozniacki. She won her third singles title in Linz, Austria in 2013 against Serbian Ana Ivanovic at the Linz Open. Kerber won four titles in 2015, three titles in 2016, and two more in 2018. Her 13th and most recent WTA singles title came at the 2021 Bad Homburg Open in Germany. She has won 659 matches in her singles career so far.
Kerber has won three major singles titles in her career beginning with the 2016 Australian Open where she defeated Serena Williams in the Final. She defeated Karolina Pliskova in the 2016 U.S. Open Final. She reached World Number 1 in September 2016. Her third major singles title came at the 2018 Wimbledon where she defeated Serena Williams in the Final.
Kerber was a Silver Medalist at the 2016 Olympics, and a Finalist at the 2016 WTA Tour Finals.
Every year, Angie enters the French Open with one mission to win the title and claim the Career Grand Slam. Though she has proven that she can still win matches on a consistent basis and is still able to win titles, as evident by her most recent title at Bad Homburg in 2021, she is 34 years-old and that’s going to eventually be a problem when facing the younger and hungrier players on the WTA Tour. Ordinarily, I’d say that she will still be a challenging out anytime she plays in a major, and that’s still true, but this year’s French Open pursuit will be an uphill climb considering that the favorite Iga Swiatek, who turns 21 on May 31, is 13 years younger and is riding a historic 28 match win streak with five straight titles in 2022. Should these two players face each other in the tournament, it would be a classic battle between a proven and seasoned veteran vs the young and feisty next-gen tennis star. Angie knows the road before her, and although a longshot, I still believe that she has a clear path towards winning the title.
If Angie finally captures the title at Roland Garros, She will become the 11th woman tennis player to achieve the Career Grand Slam and it would cement her legacy as one of the all-time greats, not that there is much dispute at this point. It would certainly be a golden moment. At 34 years-old, this could be Kerber’s last best chance to do it.
