Background and career
Angelique Kerber (German: [ʔan.d͡ʒɛˈliːk ˈkɛɐ̯bɐ] ; born 18 January 1988) is a German former professional tennis player. She was ranked as the world No. 1 in women's singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for 34 weeks, including as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Kerber won 14 WTA Tour-level singles titles, including three majors at the 2016 Australian Open, 2016 US Open, and 2018 Wimbledon Championships. She also won a silver medal in women's singles at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
An accomplished left-handed player, Kerber made her professional debut in 2003 and came to prominence by reaching the semifinals of the 2011 US Open as the world No. 92. Kerber first cracked the top 5 in the rankings in 2012 and would eventually become the world No. 1 on 12 September 2016, becoming the oldest player to achieve the top ranking for the first time. Following a maternity leave, Kerber retired from the sport after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Kerber was born on 18 January 1988 in Bremen to Polish-German parents Sławomir Kerber, from Poznań, and Beata (née Rzeźnik), who is also her manager. She has one sister, Jessica. She grew up in Kiel, where her family stayed in an apartment in a training academy where her parents work, and started playing tennis at age three, eventually joining the junior circuit. Although born right-handed, Kerber plays left-handed.
Kerber made her first attempt to qualify for a WTA tournament in January 2005, at the Auckland Open, falling to Janette Husárová in the final round. In 2007, she made her Grand Slam main-draw debut at the French Open where she lost to 13th seed Elena Dementieva in the opening round. Shortly after, she appeared in the main draw of a WTA tournament for the first time, in Birmingham, where she reached the third round, losing to fifth seed Marion Bartoli, who was the eventual runner-up at Wimbledon that year. The week after Birmingham, she reached her first main draw quarterfinal at the Rosmalen Open where she was beaten by eventual champion Anna Chakvetadze, and then fell to Chakvetadze once more, in the first round of Wimbledon. At the US Open, Kerber drew Serena Williams in the first round and lost in straight sets. Kerber achieved her first top-100 season finish in 2007, at world No. 84. She won eight titles on the ITF circuit from 2004 to 2007.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth, in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
