Angelique Kerber has split with her coach, Benjamin Ebrahimzadeh. Currently ranked No. 11, the German has had a difficult season, winning matches at Brisbane and Sydney, but then getting upset by Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round at the Australia Open. She split her singles matches at the Fed Cup against Australia at home, but then fell in the first round in Antwerp and the second round in Dubai, and in Doha she was crushed by Victoria Azarenka, 6-0, 6-3 in the first round.
Ebrahimzadeh began to work with Kerber in 2012, when she reached her career-high ranking of No. 5 in October.
However, since Kerber reached the final of Stanford last July, falling in a tough final to Serena Williams, she began to slide. She lost to teenager Belinda Bencic in the third round of the US Open, and failed to win more than two matches in a row after that. She lost both of her matches in the Fed Cup finals, first to Lucie Safaraova and then in three sets to Petra Kvitova, giving the tie to the Czech Republic.
Kerber has yet to decide who her new coach will be.
“Thank you so much, Benny, for the great work in the last years! We had a great time together, but now it is time to move on separate paths. I wish you all the best for the future!” Kerber said on Facebook.
She did not give any further details in the statement.