Angelique Kerber's journey to No. 1

Angelique Kerber started playing tennis at age three. Born in Bremen in 1988, Kerber moved to Kiel with her parents to live in an apartment in a training academy, where her German mother Beata and Polish father Slawek worked. At 15, Kerber turned professional, and three years later she played her first major tournament in Hasselt, Belgium.

Angelique Kerber won four titles on the International Tennis Federation tour and climbed into the top 100 in May 2007 for the first time. She made the main draw for the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open, but couldn't progress. In the first round in New York, she faced Serena Williams (r.) for the first time. Kerber battled hard, but Williams prevailed 6-3, 7-5.

Angelique Kerber reached the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time at the 2008 Australian Open. Back then she could have had no idea that eight years later, it would be here that she would win her first Grand Slam title.

Having reached the second round in just three of 13 tournaments, 2011 was the low point of Kerber's career. The German tennis star even considered retirement. Instead, she decided to make a new start, working harder than ever and surprised everyone by reaching the semifinals of the US Open.

Into the top 20 in February, top 10 in May and then the top 5 in October - in 2012 Kerber emerged as one of the best players in women's tennis. Her first WTA victory came in Paris (photo), and another followed in Copenhagen. At Wimbledon, Kerber made the semifinals, and in Cincinnati she enjoyed her first triumph over Serena Williams.

After a sensational 2012, it was time for Kerber to confirm her success. She won a title in Linz (photo), but suffered a number of defeats as well. She also took part in the WTA finals, where the best eight players of the season faced off against one another.

Coach Torben Beltz was largely responsible for making her the player she had become, but the two parted company at the end of 2013. Kerber brought in Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh for 2014, but she suffered a dip in form. After a poor start to 2015, Kerber rehired Beltz and the German quickly returned to her winning ways.

Germany's top women's player won four WTA titles (Birmingham title in the photo), something she hadn't managed in any previous year. In her match against Victoria Azarenka in the US Open, she took part in one of the matches of the year, although Azarenka was the one who prevailed.

Angelique Kerber became the first German since Steffi Graf to win a Grand Slam title, beating the world No.1, Serena Williams in the final of the Australian Open. "This is a dream come true," she said after the win. "These have been the two best weeks of my life."

It wasn't smooth sailing from there. Kerber was knocked out of the first round of the French Open by Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands. Kerber had pulled out of a tournament a week earlier due to a shoulder injury, and she required medical treatment at Roland Garros. "Of course, I'm disappointed that I lost in the first round, but that's sport and that always can happen," Kerber said.

On the grass courts of Wimbledon, Angelique Kerber bounced back to reach her second Grand Slam final of the year. The world's No. 2 player battled hard but lost to the top-ranked Serena Williams 7-5, 6-3. "I would like to say congrats to Serena, you really deserved your title, you’re a great person, a great champion," Kerber said in the on-court interview.

Kerber cruised through the Olympic tennis tournament in Rio, advancing to the gold-medal match without dropping a single set. However, she had to settle for a silver medal after being upset by the No. 34 women's player, Monica Puig of Puerto Rico, thus failing in her bid to become the first German woman to win Olympic gold since Steffi Graf did so for West Germany in Seoul in 1988.

Kerber will be the new No.1 women's player when the WTA releases next week's rankings on Monday - as Serena Williams was defeated in the first semifinal of the US Open. The German won the Grand Slam final of 2016 on Sunday.