The 2016 Angelique Kerber tennis season officially began on 5 January with the start of the 2016 Brisbane International. Kerber entered the season as the number 10 ranked player and the defending champion at four tournaments.

Year in detail

Australian Open Series

Australian Open Kerber entered the 2016 Australian Open as the seventh seed. She saved a match point in the second set against Misaki Doi in the first round before defeating her in three sets to advance to the second round. Following this tight encounter, Kerber defeated Alexandra Dulgheru, Madison Brengle, and compatriot Annika Beck all in comprehensive straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals, her first in Melbourne, where she faced her nemesis Victoria Azarenka, in a rematch of their encounter in Brisbane. With new tactics, Kerber assailed to a lead by two breaks in the first set. Azarenka then fought her way back into the set, but Kerber maintained a one-break lead to close out the set. In the second set, Azarenka resumed her comeback and served for the set twice, but Kerber broke Azarenka both times and had to save four set points in the process too. She ultimately took the match, thus beating Azarenka for the first time in her career, and advanced to her third career Grand Slam semifinal, the most recent one having come in Wimbledon back in 2012.

In the semifinals, Kerber faced the unseeded Johanna Konta and saw off the Briton in straight sets to book a spot in her maiden Grand Slam final, a meeting against world No. 1 and defending champion Serena Williams, who had been in dominant form. There, Kerber surprised Williams in a spectacular match where she was the underdog, and defeated Williams, 4–6, 6–3, 4–6, also stopping Williams from equaling the Open Era record held by Steffi Graf.

With the title, Kerber became the first major champion to save a match point in the first round. She was also the first German of any gender to win a major since Graf at the 1999 French Open. Kerber's victory catapulted her ranking to No.2 for the first time in her career.

All matches

Singles matches Tournament Match Round Opponent (Seed or Key) Rank Result Score Brisbane International Brisbane, AustraliaPremierHard, outdoor4 – 9 January 2016 Sydney International Sydney, AustraliaPremierHard, outdoor11 – 16 January 2016 Australian Open Melbourne, AustraliaGrand SlamHard, outdoor18 – 31 January 2016 Fed Cup World Group First Round Fed CupHard, indoor6 – 7 February 2016 Qatar Open Doha, QatarPremier 5Hard, outdoor21 – 27 February 2016 Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells, United StatesPremier MandatoryHard, outdoor7 – 20 March 2016 Miami Open Miami, United StatesPremier MandatoryHard, outdoor21 March – 3 April 2016 Charleston Open Charleston, United StatesPremierClay, outdoor4 – 10 April 2016 Fed Cup World Group play-offs Fed CupClay, indoor16 – 17 April 2016 Stuttgart Open Stuttgart, GermanyPremierClay, indoor18 – 24 April 2016 Madrid Open Madrid, SpainPremier MandatoryClay, outdoor1 – 8 May 2016 Italian Open Rome, ItalyPremier 5Clay, outdoor9 – 15 May 2016 French Open Paris, FranceGrand SlamClay, outdoor23 May – 5 June 2016 Birmingham Classic Birmingham, United KingdomPremierGrass, outdoor13 – 19 June 2016 Wimbledon Championships London, United KingdomGrand SlamGrass, outdoor27 June – 10 July 2016 Swedish Open Båstad, SwedenInternationalClay, outdoor18 – 24 July 2016 Canadian Open Montreal, CanadaPremier 5Hard, outdoor25 – 31 July 2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, BrazilOlympic GamesHard, outdoor6 – 14 August 2016 Cincinnati Masters Cincinnati, United StatesPremier 5Hard, outdoor15 – 21 August 2016 US Open New York City, United StatesGrand SlamHard, outdoor29 August – 11 September 2016 Wuhan Open Wuhan, ChinaPremier 5Hard, outdoor25 September – 1 October 2016 China Open Beijing, ChinaPremier MandatoryHard, outdoor2 – 9 October 2016 Hong Kong Tennis Open Hong KongInternationalHard, outdoor10 – 16 October 2016 WTA Finals SingaporeWTA FinalsHard, indoor23 – 30 October 2016

Doubles matches Tournament Match Round Opponents (Seed or Key) Rank Result Score Brisbane International Melbourne, AustraliaPremierHard, outdoor4 – 9 January 2016Partner: Andrea Petkovic Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells, United StatesPremier MandatoryHard, outdoor7 – 20 March 2016Partner: Andrea Petkovic Canadian Open Montreal, CanadaPremier 5Hard, outdoor25 – 31 July 2016Partner: Andrea Petkovic 2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro, BrazilOlympic GamesHard, outdoor6 – 14 August 2016Partner: Andrea Petkovic

Tournament schedule

Singles schedule Kerber's 2016 singles tournament schedule is as follows: DateTournamentCityCategorySurface2015 result2015 points2016 pointsOutcome4 January 2016– 9 January 2016 Brisbane International Brisbane Premier Hard QF 100 305 Lost in the final to Victoria Azarenka11 January 2016– 16 January 2016 Sydney International Sydney Premier Hard SF 185 55 Withdrew before second round match against Ekaterina Makarova18 January 2016–31 January 2016 Australian Open Melbourne Grand Slam Hard 1R 10 2,000 Won in the final against Serena Williams6 February 2016–7 February 2016 World Group First Round Leipzig Fed Cup Hard (i) SF — — Germany relegated to WG Play-offs21 February 2016–27 February 2016 Qatar Open Doha Premier 5 Hard 1R 1 1Lost in second round against Zheng Saisai7 March 2016–20 March 2016 Indian Wells Masters Indian Wells Premier Mandatory Hard 2R 10 10Lost in second round against Denisa Allertová21 March 2016–3 April 2016 Miami Open Miami Premier Mandatory Hard 3R 65 390Lost in the semifinals against Victoria Azarenka4 April 2016– 10 April 2016 Charleston Open Charleston Premier Clay W 470 185 Retired in the semifinals against Sloane Stephens16 April 2016–17 April 2016 World Group play-offs Cluj-Napoca Fed Cup Clay (i) SF — — Germany remain in World Group18 April 2016– 24 April 2016 Stuttgart Open Stuttgart Premier Clay (i) W 470 470 Won in the final against Laura Siegemund1 May 2016–8 May 2016 Madrid Open Madrid Premier Mandatory Clay 1R 10 10Lost in first round against Barbora Strýcová9 May 2016–15 May 2016 Italian Open Rome Premier 5 Clay 2R 60 1Lost in second round against Eugenie Bouchard23 May 2016–5 June 2016 French Open Paris Grand Slam Clay 3R 130 10 Lost in first round against Kiki Bertens13 June 2016– 19 June 2016 Birmingham Classic Birmingham Premier Grass W 470 100 Lost in the quarterfinals against Carla Suárez Navarro27 June 2016–10 July 2016 Wimbledon Championships London Grand Slam Grass 3R 130 1,300 Lost in the final to Serena Williams18 July 2016– 24 July 2016 Swedish Open Båstad International Clay DNS — 30 Withdrew before second round match against Lara Arruabarrena 25 July 2016–31 July 2016 Canadian Open Montreal Premier 5 Hard 3R 105 350Lost in semifinals against Simona Halep6 August 2016–14 August 2016 Summer Olympics Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games Hard QF (2012) ——Lost in the final to Monica Puig15 August 2016–21 August 2016 Cincinnati Masters Cincinnati Premier 5 Hard 1R 1 585 Lost in the final to Karolína Plíšková 29 August 2016–11 September 2016 US Open New York Grand Slam Hard 3R 130 2,000 Won in the final against Karolína Plíšková 25 September 2016–1 October 2016 Wuhan Open Wuhan Premier 5 Hard SF 350 105 Lost in the third round match against Petra Kvitová 2 October 2016–9 October 2016 China Open Beijing Premier Mandatory Hard QF 215 120 Lost in the third round match against Elina Svitolina 10 October 2016– 16 October 2016 Hong Kong Tennis Open Hong Kong International Hard F 180 60 Lost in the quarterfinals against Daria Gavrilova23 October 2016– 30 October 2016 WTA Finals Singapore WTA Finals Hard (i) RR 370 1,080 Lost in the final to Dominika Cibulková Total year-end points 9,167

Yearly records

Head-to-head matchups (Bold denotes a top 10 player at the time of the most recent match between the two players, Italic denotes top 50; for players whose ranking changed over the course of the year, see the note for a more complete breakdown by ranking.)

Finals

Singles: 8 (3–5) LegendGrand Slams (2–1)WTA Tour Championships (0–1)WTA Premier Mandatory (0–0)Olympic Games (0–1)WTA Premier 5 (0–1)WTA Premier (1–1)WTA International (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (2–4)Clay (1–0)Grass (0–1)Finals by venueOutdoors (2–4)Indoors (1–1)

ResultDateCategoryTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreRunner-up Premier Brisbane International, Australia Hard Victoria Azarenka 3–6, 1–6Winner Grand Slam Australian Open, Australia Hard Serena Williams 6–4, 3–6, 6–4Winner Premier Stuttgart Open, Germany Clay (i) Laura Siegemund 6–4, 6–0Runner-up Grand Slam Grass Serena Williams 5–7, 3–6Silver Olympic Games Summer Olympics, Brazil Hard Monica Puig 4–6, 6–4, 1–6Runner-up Premier 5 Cincinnati Masters, United States Hard Karolína Plíšková 3–6, 1–6Winner Grand Slam US Open, United States Hard Karolína Plíšková 6–3, 4–6, 6–4Runner-up WTA Finals, Singapore Hard (i) 3–6, 4–6

Doubles: 1 (0–1) LegendGrand Slams (0–0)WTA Tour Championships (0–0)WTA Premier Mandatory (0–0)WTA Premier 5 (0–0)WTA Premier (0–1)WTA International (0–0)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (0–0)Grass (0–0)Finals by venueOutdoors (0–1)Indoors (0–0)

ResultDateCategoryTournamentSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore in the finalRunner-up Premier Brisbane International, Australia Hard Andrea Petkovic Martina Hingis Sania Mirza 5–7, 1–6

Earnings

Singles Event Prize money Year-to-date Brisbane International $103,850 $103,850 Sydney International $10,540 $114,390 Australian Open $2,553,740 $2,668,130 Qatar Open $15,185 $2,683,315 Indian Wells Masters $19,530 $2,702,845 Miami Open $251,500 $2,954,345 Charleston Open $33,600 $2,987,945 Stuttgart Open $129,551 $3,117,496 Madrid Open $15,193 $3,132,689 Italian Open $15,680 $3,148,369 French Open $32,314 $3,180,683 Birmingham Classic $22,310 $3,202,993 Wimbledon Championships $1,532,910 $4,735,903 Swedish Open $3,400 $4,739,303 Canadian Open $121,150 $4,860,453 Cincinnati Masters $247,320 $5,107,773 US Open $3,437,565 $8,545,338 Wuhan Open $26,900 $8,572,238 China Open $62,768 $8,635,006 Hong Kong Tennis Open $6,175 $8,641,181 WTA Finals $1,200,000 $9,841,181 $9,841,181 Doubles Event Prize money Year-to-date Brisbane International $12,259 $12,259 Indian Wells Masters $5,930 $18,189 Canadian Open $2,245 $20,434 $20,434 Total $9,861,615 Figures in United States dollars (USD) unless noted.

Bold denotes tournament win

See also 2016 WTA Tour 2016 Serena Williams tennis season Angelique Kerber career statistics

Notes

References

External links

Official website Angelique Kerber at the Women's Tennis Association Angelique Kerber at the International Tennis Federation Angelique Kerber at the Fed Cup Angelique Kerber at the International Olympic Committee