Kerber out to cap breakout year in Singapore

23 October 2016 - 02:00 By Reuters and AFP

The absence of Serena Williams may have robbed the season-ending WTA Finals of a blockbuster showdown with Angelique Kerber, but the great American's withdrawal only means more accolades for the world No1 from Germany after her breakout year. Regardless of how she performs in Singapore, Kerber will be presented with the year-end No1 trophy after Williams, the only woman with any chance of overtaking her at the top of the rankings, pulled out of the elite eight-player tournament with a shoulder injury.Kerber will become just the 12th woman to finish the year ranked No1 since computer rankings were introduced in 1975, and no one would begrudge the 28-year-old's claim to the title after a career-best season in which she won the Australian and US Open and finished runner-up at Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics.story_article_left1"This is one of the things I have been dreaming of," Kerber said."I have worked extremely hard to become the best player I can be and this is a reflection of that effort and the wonderful year I've had."With the ranking trophy in the bag, Kerber now has her sights on picking up another major piece of silverware, the Billie Jean King Trophy for the winner of the prestigious end-of-season tournament.Restricted to the world's top eight players, the WTA Finals is regarded as the most important yearly event in women's tennis outside the four majors.While Williams has won the tournament five times, Kerber has qualified only twice before, in 2012 and 2013, bowing out in the round-robin phase each time, giving her added incentive to cap her year by winning the October 30 final.The tournament starts today. The last qualifying spot was decided yesterday with Britain's Johanna Konta booked to compete, but at risk of being overtaken in the rankings, by Svetlana Kuznetsova who beat Daria Gavrilova (Australia) 6-2 6-1..

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