Wimbledon champion Angelique Kerber believes new coach Rainer Schuttler ‘meets all the criteria’ ahead of the 2019 season.
The German, who has won three grand slams, split with Wim Fissette just before the WTA Finals in October and has since looked for a new appointment.
After a lengthy break in Indonesia and a long process, Kerber went for former Australian Open finalist Rainer Schuttler to be her new coach.
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The decision has been met with doubts as Schuttler has yet to coach a WTA player after stints with Sergiy Stakhovsky and Vasek Pospisil.
However in a recent interview with German website Spox.com, Kerber explained that he ticked all the right boxes and is confident that the partnership will work, “I had already thought about a few names, but Rainer meets all the criteria,” said Kerber.
“He has already gained experience as a player and coach. He does not have anyone on the WTA tour trained, but that will not be a big change for him. With Rainer you can have fun – and trust him.”
Despite the appointment Kerber still says that the work mostly depends on herself and the coach doesn’t matter if she isn’t disciplined enough, “Everything starts with me, if I’m not motivated, it does not matter if it’s the best or the worst coach.”
The left-hander had another great year last season having won Wimbledon as well as finishing the year as world number two.
Although the start of next season will be crucial for Kerber as she has a Sydney title to defend and the Australian Open semi-finals.
Kerber ‘proud’ of Zverev
Speaking of next season, Kerber will start her year in Perth where she play in the Hopman Cup with ATP Finals champion Alexander Zverev.
The pair reached the final last year only to lose to Switzerland and know each other well. So it’s no surprise that the former world number one congratulated Zverev on his brilliant ATP Finals win in London last week, “I’m proud of him for what he did in London,” Kerber explained when she sent the message to him on WhatsApp on Sunday. “Sascha Zverev and I are good role models for the young players.”
The 21 year-old beat Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic back-to-back to win the ATP Finals over the weekend and will have momentum heading into the start of the season in January.
Kerber will hope this is the case when they look to win the Hopman Cup in January, their first match will be against Spain on the 30th of December.
