Dubai: There is more to life than being world No. 1 … there is health and staying consistent in the life of German tennis star Angelique Kerber.

Currently at World No. 2 in the WTA Rankings, the 29-year-old Kerber was expected to reclaim her position at the top of women’s tennis and ahead of American Serena Williams with a title at the Dubai Tennis Championships. But with a nagging knee injury, Kerber’s plans had to be put on the back-burner as seventh seed Elina Svitolina won in straight sets 6-3, 7-6 (3) to dent Kerber’s aspirations.

After her professional debut in 2003, Kerber shot into prominence reaching the 2011 US Open semi-finals when she was ranked No. 92. But, she lived up to her potential with two Grand Slam titles — both in 2016 with the Australian Open followed by the US Open — while climbing to the top in mid-September last year. However, a string of disappointing results followed and Kerber has had to abdicate her position to Serena Williams since then.

Along with her loss in Dubai came the added disappointment of not being the new world No. 1 while also being only the eighth active woman player to earn $20 million or more in career prize money. The others include Serena and Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska, Petra Kvitova, Caroline Wozniacki and Svetlana Kuznetsova.

However, these are simply not the things Kerber mulls on.

“I’m not thinking about this [being world No. 1 again]. I mean, everybody is writing or asking or whatever, but for me, I know how it feels to be No. 1. I reached it once, and for sure I will try to get back there,” Kerber told media after her semi-final loss late on Friday.

“But for me it’s really important to be healthy, and at the end, if I play consistent the next weeks or months, then we will see what will happen then. But for the moment, I’m not looking about the number before my name,” she admitted.

Considering her prior recent form on the tour, Kerber’s performance of heading into the Dubai semi-finals without dropping a set has given her reason to believe. “Yeah, for sure this week has been a step forward for me. I mean, absolutely, that I take maybe one or two steps forward again,” she said.

“I think I will do the same. I will be practicing and I will stay calm and positive like I stayed in the last few weeks, and, just look forward to the next big tournaments before us,” Kerber added.