Kerber enjoying No 1 pressure

BRISBANE: Germany’s Angelique Kerber said Sunday she was enjoying the pressure of being the world’s top-ranked tennis player as she prepares to get her 2017 season underway.

Speaking ahead of the Brisbane International, Kerber conceded she would be under more pressure in 2017 as the world number one but was not letting it get to her.

“I think it will be a completely different year than 2016,” she said.

“There are a lot of challenges that I have now, and I think I’m ready. Of course the pressure is there but it’s a different pressure now.”

Kerber said she was initially surprised at the attention she had received since reaching number one last September.

“The biggest thing was that I have so many things to do,” she said.

“It was a really big thing here, and in Germany, and everywhere, so that surprised me a lot.”

Kerber had a breakthrough 2016, winning two Grand Slams on her way to becoming number one.

But asked when her run to the top began, Kerber pointed to the first round in Brisbane last year, when she rallied from a set down to beat Italy’s Camila Giorgi 5-7, 6-3, 6-0.

“Starting here with my first round where I played on court one, I think, and I lost the first set,” she said.

“Then we had a rain delay and I came back after losing the first set and I won that match.

“So this was the start of my journey in 2016, here in Australia, because then I played every single round better and better. “And then, of course, the final [which she lost] against Vika [Azarenka] here was not bad.”