Angelique Kerber looks back on brilliant Olympics run - "This is the biggest success I had"

After falling in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Olympic Games, Angelique Kerber believes her extraordinary run was among the best moments of her career.

The German star announced she would be retiring after the Paris Olympics, ending a career that saw her win three Grand Slam titles and claim the World No.1 ranking. After taking time off to give birth to her first child in 2023, the 36-year old returned to the WTA tour and ended her distinguished career with some memorable wins.

The former World No.1 surpassed her own expectations during the Paris Olympic Games, defeating four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka and 2021 US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez en route to the quarterfinals. Despite her best efforts, Kerber was unable to get past World No.7 Qinwen Zheng, falling to the Chinese star in a 7-4(4) 6-4 6-7(8) marathon match. Nonetheless, Kerber leaves Paris with no regrets on ending her career.

There are a lot of emotions," said Kerber after the match. "I gave everything I could on court and I think this is what counts for me, especially coming here, playing great matches, feeling that I can still play with the top players and having this decision in my hands, to have no injuries.
"I cannot stop better than here, playing for your country, playing on Chatrier, such a great crowd and I just tried my best. I tried everything I could. I had good tournaments but of course I also had tough first rounds and it was not easy to find the rhythm.

"But at the end, for me, it was always important to enjoy it, to come here to feel the atmosphere, the fans and seeing that I can play at a high level again. This is for me personally I think the biggest success I had.
"Having a match like this as my last match, showing also that I never give up and I tried everything until the end means a lot, I will miss the fans, the emotions, the competition for sure and travelling around the world. There's never a right time for making such a decision but for me it was the best timing."