She was ranked as the world No. She also won a silver medal in women's singles at the Rio Olympics. Kerber made her professional debut in and began her rise to prominence upon reaching the semifinals of the US Open as the world No.
An accomplished left-handed player, Kerber first cracked the top 5 in the rankings in and would eventually become world No. Following a maternity leave, Kerber retired from the sport after the Paris Olympics. She has one sister, Jessica. Although born right-handed, Kerber plays left-handed. In , 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. Kerber achieved her first top season finish in , at world No.
She also made the third round at Indian Wells where she lost to sixth seed Bartoli. Kerber did not progress much that year after that, besides winning a further two ITF titles. Her struggles would continue in as she managed just three wins in WTA main draws. She did qualify for the US Open that year, where she made the second round. She also won her 11th and final ITF title that year. She finished and respectively ranked barely outside the top , at No.
In , Kerber qualified for the Australian Open where she reached the third round of a major for the first time, losing to third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in a close three-setter, from a set up.
