"When she's fit, she's still one of the best in the world": Alexander Zverev believes in successful comeback for Angelique Kerber

Alexander Zverev has predicted a successful comeback for Angelique Kerber as the German tennis star prepares to return at the United Cup in 2024, ahead of competing at the Australian Open.

Former World No. 1 Kerber has already left her mark on the sport, winning three Grand Slam titles and a total of 14 WTA titles, as well as securing an Olympic silver medal in 2016. However, the 35-year-old is not done yet as she aims to launch her comeback in January 2024.

Kerber has been absent from the WTA Tour since August 2022 when she announced that she was pregnant with her first child. She then gave birth to her daughter Liana in February of this year and has since been preparing to return to professional tennis. For her first tournament she will join Team Germany at the United Cup to help her warm up for the Australian Open in Melbourne.

Now, World No. 7 Zverev, who is currently the highest-ranked German singles player in the sport, has predicted great success for his compatriot upon her return. The 26-year-old explained that the main reason for his positivity was due to the fact that Kerber was not away from the sport because of injury, meaning she is more likely to be fit and healthy.

"You have to see that she wasn’t injured. Pregnancy is something different," he said in an interview with Bild am Sonntag, "When she’s fit, she’s still one of the best in the world." Zverev and Kerber have played doubles together in the past, and the latter previously hinted that she was interested in re-forming their doubles partnership at the United Cup in 2024.

Despite his optimism, Zverev also warned against fans putting too high expectations on Kerber straight away, as returning after a break is still difficult even if the player hasn't had to recover from an injury: "When you're out for a year and a half, it's not easy to come back. I spoke to her, she is already training very, very hard and is already fully prepared. It’s going to be good!" he continued.

Zverev is currently competing at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where he will face Carlos Alcaraz in his opening round. He has had a successful season overall after he had to come back from a severe injury earlier this year, reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open and winning the Chengdu Open in recent months.