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<mask> (22 October 1885 – 30 May 1935) was a German composer as well as long-standing literary editor and publisher at Schott. Life and career
Born in Ampfing, Windsperger, son of a well-known organist and school teacher, received his first basic musical education from his father, who he lost at the age of five. Windsperger nevertheless remained true to music, even when he first began his training as a primary school teacher in Rosenheim, where he had moved with his mother in 1898, at a . In 1900 he finally changed to the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich. There he was taught composition and harmony by Josef Rheinberger and Rudolf Louis, among others, and piano by August Schmid-Lindner. Later he continued his studies with Hugo Riemann in Leipzig and work weeks with Hermann Abendroth at the Rheinische Musikschule in Cologne. In February 1905 Windsperger appeared in Munich with an orchestral concert in which he performed his one-hour, one-movement "Sinfonie der Sehnsucht".According to the judgement of H. Teibler in the Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung of 24 February 1905 (p. 151), however, he thereby "only provoked the unwillingness of all well-meaning people; this concert was an assassination of the good will of the audience". In 1913 he accepted an offer to start as a lector at the music publisher B. Schott's Söhne in Mainz. This enabled him to influence the clarification of special questions in the context of the publication of various works as well as the structure, structure and technique of the compositions of other musicians. Among other things, he was also the editor of the works of Josip Štolcer-Slavenski, Ernst Toch and Carl Orff. Windsperger was particularly fascinated by Orff's music educational ideas and his works were subsequently published in their entirety by Schott from 1923 onwards. For this reason, he introduced the Orff Schulwerk in its original version from 1930 to various kindergartens in Mainz. From his position, Windsperger often transcribed entire opera and choral works by other composers.For example, he transcribed a large part of Verdi' or Wagner' operas as well as difficult solo or chamber music compositions by other composers into easily playable piano scores. These new editions, as well as his complete own compositions, were finally published by Schott in the form of anthologies. In addition to this task, Windsperger worked as a teacher of theory and piano in Mainz and Wiesbaden and finally accepted a position at the Peter Cornelius Conservatory of the city of Mainz in 1933, where he took over the position of director as successor to Hans Gál, who had emigrated after the Nazi's Machtergreifung because of his Hungarian-Jewish descent. One of his most famous pupils here was Rudolf Desch. But only two years later Windsperger died in Franckfurt on 30 May 1935 at the age of 49. About Windsperger's work as a composer of  on the way to contemporary music, Anton Würz writes in volume 14 of the Musiklexikon Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart':
 "<mask> <mask>'s varied oeuvre bears witness to the creative power and individuality of a serious, internalized artistic personality. Like the greater ones, M. Reger, H. Pfitzner and H. Kaminski, standing between the times, he strove to move from his epochally conditioned late-Romantic starting point to a penetration of traditional forms with new means of expression.His tonal language is often harsh, hardly ever persuasive through external effects, but rich in fine expressive-poetic traits. A strong ethical will of confession speaks from his main works. His violin concerto is often called by Hans Engel:  Bruckner consecration and religiousness fulfilled, even more by the sage G. Mahlers. His two great choral works Missa Symphonica and Requiem, published in 1926 and 1930 respectively, were perceived as very important contributions to contemporary music and were acknowledged as testimonies to an outstanding creative power. Characteristic examples of his gift for saying memorable things even in the smallest forms, and at the same time of his way of dealing with new musical language (for example the bitonality), are offered by the Piano Pieces op. 37. Compositions
 Was die deutschen Kinder singen – eine Blütenlese der heimatlichen Kinderlieder, compiled by a German mother.Set for piano by L<mask>. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1914. Deutsche Kinder-Lieder. Mit Spielregeln für die Spiellieder, for piano set by L<mask>. Based on the original by H. Willebeek Le Maire. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1916. Das Buch der Motive aus sämtlichen Opern und Musikdramen Richard Wagners, for piano with superimposed text edited by <mask> <mask>.B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1920. Verdi-Album. Ausgewählte Stücke aus den beliebtesten Opern von Giuseppe Verdi, compiled and arranged for piano for 2 hands by <mask> <mask>. Mainz, B. Schott's Söhne 1920. Ode in C minor for viola solo op. 13.2. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1919.15 Improvisationen für Violine solo. [B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1920. String quartet in G minor. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1920. Prélude, aria et final for piano by César Franck. Arrangement by <mask> Windsperger. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1921.Der mythische Brunnen, cycle of 7 piano pieces op. 27. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1921. 21 Lieder mit Klavierbegleitung op. 25. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1922. Rhapsodie-Sonate für Violoncello und Klavier op.20. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1924. Fantasietten-Suite für Klavier op. 35. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1926. Missa symphonica für gemischten Chor, Soli, Orchester und Orgel op. 36.B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1926. Kleine Klavier-Stücke op. 37. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1926. Requiem. A symphonic funeral mass for mixed choir, 4 solo voices, orchestra and organl op. 47.B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz 1929. Sketchbook for the Album für die Jugend by Robert Schumann. B. Schott's Söhne, Mainz. Catalogue of works (in extracts) at B. Schott's Söhne. Publications
 Das Buch der Motive aus Opern und Musikdramen Richard Wagner's''. References

External links

German Romantic composers
20th-century German composers
German music educators
1885 births
1935 deaths
People from Mühldorf

masks:
Lothar Windsperger
Lothar
Windsperger
. Windsperger
. Windsperger
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<mask> (born 1 September 1983) is an Italian professional road bicycle racer, who is suspended from all competition until 2024. He was previously ejected from the 2008 Tour de France for doping violations and suspended. <mask> returned to competition in late 2010, but in February 2011 he was fired by his team, , after he became seriously ill allegedly through a self-administered autologous blood transfusion. He then signed to UCI Continental team . On 19 April 2012 it was announced that he had been suspended for 12 years effectively ending his career. Career
Born in Formigine, <mask> joined UCI ProTeam  in 2006 after two successful seasons as an amateur rider, during which he won the Settimana Bergamasca. Prior to joining the team he tried to become a professional with  in 2005 but was not allowed because several blood tests revealed his hematocrit levels exceeded those acceptable.Saunier Duval's sportif director, Mauro Gianetti, suggested he spend a week in the UCI laboratory in Lausanne to prove that his blood values were natural. Further exhaustive tests by the UCI confirmed that <mask>'s hematocrit level was naturally over 50%. This has since been questioned however when, on 17 July 2008, it was revealed that <mask> had a non negative test for EPO, the hematocrit boosting drug, following the Tour de France stage 4 time trial at Cholet. It has since been suggested by fellow professional rider Jérôme Pineau that <mask> openly doped even as a junior rider. Saunier Duval (2006–2008)
<mask>'s breakthrough came during the 2007 Tirreno–Adriatico, when he won two consecutive stages and the points classification. He also won a stage and finished second in Settimana internazionale di Coppi e Bartali. He then finished ninth in Amstel Gold Race and sixth in La Flèche Wallonne in his first ever appearance in the Ardennes Classics.He rode the Giro d'Italia as a domestique of team leader Gilberto Simoni and in the process he took the 15th stage at Tre Cime di Lavaredo ahead of his teammate Leonardo Piepoli. He would finish sixth overall, seven minutes behind eventual winner Danilo Di Luca. In the season finale Giro di Lombardia, he finished second after losing a two-man sprint with Damiano Cunego. In 2008, <mask> rode the Giro d'Italia as team leader, and impressed in the mountains, taking two stage victories, the young rider's classification, and was 2nd overall in the general classification, 1:57 behind winner Alberto Contador. It was suspected that <mask>'s performance was not clean. Doping expert Michel Audran has stated that CERA was in use by some riders in the 2008 Giro CERA is the supposedly untraceable third generation EPO used by <mask> in the Tour de France weeks later. On 10 July 2008, <mask> won stage 6 of the Tour de France with a hilltop finish at Super-Besse giving him his first Tour de France stage win.There were, however, some rumors saying that test results revealed abnormalities in his blood level. The team and the athlete claimed there were no doping issues, however, since <mask> claims to have a naturally high haematocrit level. He reportedly has a UCI certificate attesting to an hematocrit of 51%, 50% being considered the accepted upper limit since 1997. Three days later he achieved his second win at stage 9 of the Tour de France with a break away climb of the Col d'Aspin. Doping

2008 Tour de France
On 17 July 2008, <mask> tested positive for the banned blood booster Continuous Erythropoiesis Receptor Activator (or CERA, a variant of Erythropoietin), from a sample taken following the fourth stage, making him the third rider to test positive for this substance in the 2008 Tour de France after Moisés Dueñas of Barloworld and Manuel Beltrán of Liquigas. He was immediately ejected from the Tour and his team Saunier Duval withdrew of their own volition. Saunier Duval announced the next day that team manager Mauro Gianetti had "lost faith in" <mask> and that he had been fired from the team; <mask> spent the night at the police station and was indicted on charges of "use of poisonous substances".He denied the charges and told RAI television;

The prosecutor, Antoine Leroy, testified that medical supplies including syringes and equipment for intravenous drips were found in his hotel room, but were unused. According to AFP, the prosecutor said in the first searches, "there were no doping substances as such" found. It was later revealed that <mask> had attempted to escape doping control officials after stage 4 of the Tour, but had been caught in traffic. As a result of this, officials decided that he was to be tested after every stage. It was also revealed that CERA's manufacturer Roche Pharmaceuticals had secretly worked closely with the World Anti-Doping Agency to develop a test for the drug, and this was how <mask> had been caught. In the week following the race, <mask> admitted to the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI) that, independent of the team, he had been taking EPO in preparation for the 2008 Tour de France, and he accepted responsibility for his actions and apologized to his teammates and fans. <mask> told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica that it was the banned doping doctor Carlo Santuccione who supplied the new form of EPO.Following <mask>'s admission of guilt in the affair, his advisors had hoped for a 20-month ban to be handed to the rider, but on 2 October 2008, he was handed a 2-year ban by the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI), which <mask> found disappointing; "I'm very disappointed and bitter. I expected better understanding. But I made a mistake and it's fair that I pay." However, on 17 March 2009, the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban to 20 months because of his cooperation; he resumed racing in March 2010 on the  team. <mask> also faced criminal prosecution in both Italy and France for the doping affair. He was convicted by a criminal court in Padua and given a fine of €3,040. In June 2010, <mask> was handed a two-year suspended sentence by a Toulouse court, which was upheld on appeal in November 2011.In August 2010, <mask> terminated his contract for , and signed a two-year contract with Dutch Vacansoleil Pro Cycling Team. 2011 blood transfusion incident
On 6 February 2011 <mask> was admitted to a hospital in critical condition, with sepsis and kidney failure, allegedly due to a blood transfusion he performed on himself with 25-day-old blood. <mask> admitted to the doctor treating him that he had performed the transfusion in the presence of his girlfriend Vania Rossi. The doctor reported this information to authorities leading to an investigation being opened against the professional cyclist by police and the Italian Olympic committee (CONI). <mask> was released from the hospital within two weeks, and was subsequently sacked by his team . <mask> later denied blood doping, but also stated that he was finished with the sport and that he wanted to train to become a barista. He later changed his mind and said he would indeed like to race again.In October 2011, it was reported that <mask> confessed to the blood transfusion to CONI although his lawyer later denied these reports. On 19 April 2012, Italy's National Anti-doping Court (TNA – Tribunale Nazionale Antidoping) banned <mask> from any professional cycling activity for 12 years, effectively ending his career. <mask> appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The CAS upheld the ban. 2014 accusations
On 1 May 2014 <mask> was accused of purchasing EPO and testosterone, after being caught by Italian police in the car park of a McDonald's restaurant in Livorno. <mask> later claimed to be "in the wrong place at the wrong time" and his lawyer stated that he was not in the car park to purchase EPO.

masks:
Riccardo Riccò
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<mask> (or Hilary) was the bishop of Rome from 19 November 461 to his death on 29 February 468. In 449, Hilarius served as a legate for Pope Leo I at the Second Council of Ephesus. His opposition to the condemnation of Flavian of Constantinople incurred the enmity of Dioscurus of Alexandria, who attempted to prevent him from leaving the city. <mask> was able to make his escape and returned to Rome by an indirect route. He later erected an oratory at the Lateran in honor of John the Evangelist, to whom he attributed his safe passage. Much of his pontificate was spent in maintaining ecclesiastical discipline in conformity with canon law, and in settling jurisdictional disputes among the bishops of both Gaul and Spain. Early career
<mask> was born in Sardinia.As archdeacon under Pope Leo I, he fought vigorously for the rights of the Roman See. In 449, <mask> and Bishop Julius of Puteoli served as papal legates to the Second Council of Ephesus. Pope Leo had sent a letter with the legates to be read at the council. However, the head notary declared that the emperor's letter should be read first and as the Council proceeded, Leo's letter ended up not being read at all. <mask> vigorously opposed the condemnation of Flavian of Constantinople, pronouncing the single word in Latin, "Contradicitur", annulling the sentence in Leo's name. For this he incurred the displeasure of Pope Dioscorus I of Alexandria, who presided over the synod. Flavian died shortly afterwards, on 11 August 449, from injuries incurred from a physical assault by the followers of Dioscurus.According to a letter to Empress Pulcheria collected among the letters of Leo I, <mask> apologized for not delivering to her the pope's letter after the synod, but owing to Dioscurus of Alexandria, who tried to hinder his going either to Rome or to Constantinople, he had great difficulty in making his escape in order to bring to the pontiff the news of the result of the council. Flavian and Eusebius of Dorylaeum appealed to the pope, and their letters were probably taken by Hilarus to Rome. Papacy
As pope, he continued the policy of his predecessor, Leo I, who, in his contest with Hilary of Arles, had obtained from Emperor Valentinian III a famous rescript of 444 (called Novel 17) confirming the supremacy of the bishop of Rome. Hilarius continued to strengthen ecclesiastical government in Gaul and Spain. In Rome, Hilarius worked zealously to counter the new emperor's 467 edict of toleration for schismatic sects, which had been inspired, according to a letter of Pope Gelasius I, by a favourite of Emperor Anthemius named Philotheus, who espoused the Macedonian heresy. On one of the emperor's visits to St Peter's Basilica, the pope openly called him to account for his favourite's conduct, exhorting him by the grave of St Peter to promise that he would allow no schismatical assemblies in Rome. Ecclesiastical disputes
Hermes, a former archdeacon of Narbonne, had illegally acquired the bishopric of that town.Two Gallican prelates were dispatched to Rome to lay before the pope this and other matters concerning the Church in Gaul. A Roman synod held on 19 November, 462, passed judgment upon these matters. <mask> sent an Encyclical advising the provincial bishops of Vienne, Lyons, Narbonne, and the Alps that Hermes was to remain titular bishop of Narbonne, but his episcopal faculties were withheld. Other decisions expressed in an encyclical were in the interests of increased discipline. A synod was to be convened yearly by the bishop of Arles, but all important matters were to be submitted to the Apostolic See. No bishop could leave his diocese without a written permission from his metropolitan, with a right of appeal to the Bishop of Arles. Respecting the parishes (paroeciae) claimed by Bishop Leontius of Arles as belonging to his jurisdiction, the Gallican bishops could decide, after an investigation.Church property could not be alienated until a synod had looked into the purpose of the sale. Shortly after this, the pope found himself involved in another diocesan quarrel. In 463, Mamertus of Vienne had consecrated a bishop of Die, although this Church, by a decree of Leo I, belonged to the metropolitan Diocese of Arles. When Hilarius heard of it, he deputed Leontius of Arles to summon a great synod of the bishops of several provinces to investigate the matter. The synod took place and, on the strength of the report given him by Bishop Antonius, he issued an edict dated 25 February 464 in which Bishop Veranus was commissioned to warn Mamertus that, if in the future he did not refrain from irregular ordinations, his faculties would be withdrawn. Consequently, the consecration of the Bishop of Die would be sanctioned by Leontius of Arles. Thus the primatial privileges of the See of Arles were upheld as Leo I had defined them.At the same time, the bishops were admonished not to overstep their boundaries and to assemble in a yearly synod presided over by the Bishop of Arles. The metropolitan rights of the See of Embrun over the dioceses of the Maritime Alps were protected against the encroachments of a certain Bishop Auxanius, particularly in connection with the two Churches of Nice and Cimiez. <mask> gave decisions to the churches of Hispania, which tended to operate outside the papal orbit in the 5th century. Bishop Silvanus of Calahorra had violated the church laws by his episcopal ordinations, and the pope was asked for his decision. Before an answer came to their petition, the same bishops had recourse to the Holy See for an entirely different matter. Before his death, Nundinarius, Bishop of Barcelona, expressed a wish that Irenaeus might be chosen his successor, and he himself had made Irenaeus bishop of another See. The request was granted and the Synod of Tarragona confirmed the nomination of Irenaeus, after which the bishops sought the pope's approval.The Roman synod of 19 November 465, held in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, which decided that Irenaeus, the nominated bishop, should quit the see of Barcelona and return to his former one, while the Spanish bishops were directed to condone the acts of Silvanus. This is the oldest Roman synod whose original records have survived. Construction projects
<mask> erected several churches and other buildings in Rome, for which the Liber Pontificalis, the main source for information about <mask>, praises him. He also erected a chapel of the Holy Cross in the baptistery, convents, two public baths, and libraries near the Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls. He built two oratories in the baptistery of the Lateran, one in honor of John the Baptist, the other of John the Apostle, to whom he attributed his safe escape from the Council of Ephesus, thus satisfying the question as to which saints the Lateran had been dedicated. Death
<mask> died on 29 February 468 and was buried in Basilica of St. Lawrence outside the Walls. His feast day is celebrated on 17 November.See also

Hilary of Poitiers
List of Catholic saints
List of popes
Pope Saint Hilarius, patron saint archive

References

Bibliography

468 deaths
5th-century archbishops
5th-century Christian saints
5th-century Romans
Burials at San Lorenzo fuori le mura
Sardinian Roman Catholic priests
Italian popes
Saints from Roman Italy
Papal names
Papal saints
People from Sardinia
Popes
Year of birth unknown
5th-century popes

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Pope Hilarius
Hilarius
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<mask> (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 and winner of three Grand Slam tournaments, she made her professional debut in 2003 and began her rise to prominence upon reaching the semifinals of the 2011 US Open as the No. 92-ranked player in the world. An accomplished left-handed player of her time, <mask>'s ranking cracked the top 5 in 2012, and she would eventually reach the top of the rankings on 12 September 2016, thus becoming the 22nd and oldest player to achieve the world No. 1 ranking for the first time. She has won 13 career singles titles – across all surfaces – including multiple Grand Slam titles: the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open and the 2018 Wimbledon Championships.She has also won a silver medal while representing Germany at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Early life
<mask> was born on 18 January 1988 in Bremen to Polish parents Sławomir <mask>, 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. Career

2003–2011: Early career, maiden WTA final and US Open semifinals
<mask> 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. She then recorded her Grand Slam main draw debut year in 2007, at the French Open where she lost to 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 made 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, <mask> drew Serena Williams in the first round and lost in straight sets. <mask> achieved her first top-100 season finish in 2007, at world No. 84. She also won eight titles on the ITF circuit from 2004 to 2007. <mask> attained her first Grand Slam victory in 2008 at the Australian Open by defeating Maret Ani, before losing to 25th seed Francesca Schiavone.She also made the third round at Indian Wells where she lost to sixth seed Bartoli. <mask> did not progress much that year after that, besides winning a further two ITF titles. Her struggles would continue in 2009 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 2008 and 2009 respectively ranked barely outside the top 100, at No. 108 and No.106, respectively. In 2010, <mask> qualified for the Australian Open where she reached her third round of a Grand Slam for the first time, losing to third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in a close three-setter, from a set up. She then reached her maiden WTA final, in Bogota, finishing runner-up to home star Mariana Duque Mariño, having upset top-seed Gisela Dulko in the semifinals. <mask> proceeded to reach two other quarterfinals that year, in Fes and Copenhagen, and then  made the third round of Wimbledon, after defeating Sania Mirza and upsetting 13th seed Shahar Pe'er before losing to Jarmila Groth. At the end of the year, she made the third round in Beijing where she lost to Li Na, and capped off her season with a semifinal run in Luxembourg. She ended the year ranked No. 47.Kerber did not win back-to-back matches in the first seven months of 2011 except once, at her first tournament of the year, in Hobart. At Wimbledon, she lost to youngster Laura Robson in the first round. In Dallas, the week before the US Open, she recorded a semifinal run, where she lost to Aravane Rezaï. <mask> entered the US Open ranked world No. 92, and passed the first hurdle with a win in three sets over Lauren Davis in three sets. Next, she faced 12th seed Agnieszka Radwańska and pulled off a shock three-set victory before going on to beat both Alla Kudryavtseva and Monica Niculescu to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal. There, Kerber surprised multiple-time quarterfinalist here Flavia Pennetta in three sets to advance to the semifinal, where she lost to ninth seed and eventual champion Samantha Stosur in three sets.<mask> reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 34 after the tournament. She then qualified for the Pan Pacific Open and reached the second round, losing to eventual champion Radwańska from a set up. After that, she reached the semifinals in Osaka where she lost to eventual champion Bartoli. She finished the year as world No. 32, her second finish in a row in the top 50. 2012: Career breakthrough, Wimbledon semifinals, first title wins and rise to top 5
<mask>'s first tournament of 2012 was the Auckland Open where she reached the semifinals, falling to eventual runner-up Pennetta.At the Australian Open, <mask> was seeded at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time, and made the third round where she lost to fourth seed Maria Sharapova. As a result, <mask> rose to a new career-high ranking of world No. 27. She then competed in her first Fed Cup tie in almost five years, where Germany faced defending champions Czech Republic in the quarterfinals, and won her only rubber, defeating Lucie Hradecká in straight sets but the Germans lost the tie 1–3. At her next tournament was in Paris, <mask> lifted her maiden WTA singles title. After seeing off Lucie Šafářová and Niculescu to make the last eight, she upset top seed Sharapova in straight sets. <mask> then beat Yanina Wickmayer in the last four, and faced second seed Bartoli in the final, seeing off the home player in three sets to win the title.She then suffered an early loss at the Qatar Open in hands of unseeded Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova in the second round. <mask>'s continued her surge up the rankings through the coming three months, that culminated in her cracking the top 10 rankings for the first time in her career. She started with a semifinal appearance at the Indian Wells Open. Seeded 18th with a bye in the first round, she moved past three Americans in Sloane Stephens, Vania King and Christina McHale, the second one via a walkover. <mask> then upset eighth seed Li Na in the quarterfinals, but was stopped by world No. 1 and eventual champion Victoria Azarenka in the last four. Her ranking improved to a career-high world No.14 as a result. In Miami, <mask> was upset in her opener by Zheng Jie. Her next stop was indoors, at the Danish Open where she was the second seed. In her opener, she struggled past Stéphanie Foretz Gacon and then defeated Anne Keothavong and fellow German Mona Barthel. After that, she defeated third seed Jelena Janković to reach her second final of the year. She won the title by defeating the top seed and defending champion Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. Starting off her clay season on home soil, in Stuttgart, <mask> advanced to the quarterfinals with wins over Roberta Vinci and sixth seed Wozniacki, before losing to third seed Petra Kvitová.After an early exit in Madrid, <mask> advanced to the semifinals in Rome after avenging her Stuttgart loss to Kvitová in the last eight, which ensured herself a rise to the top 10 rankings for the first time in her career. In the last four, she lost to Sharapova in straight sets. At the French Open, 10th-seeded <mask> amassed back-to-back wins here for the first time after beating Zhang Shuai and Olga Govortsova. She then beat 18th seed Pennetta in three sets before seeing off Petra Martic in the fourth round to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to eventual runner-up Sara Errani. <mask> continued her steady rise of 2012 on grass, firstly by posting a runner-up appearance in Eastbourne, losing to a close final to Tamira Paszek, having served for the championship in the deciding set and  missing five match points. At the Wimbledon Championships, <mask> was seeded eighth. She advanced to the her second Grand Slam quarterfinal in a row, this time without losing set, by beating Lucie Hradecká, Ekaterina Makarova, 28th seed Christina McHale and former world No.1 Kim Clijsters., the latter in 49 minutes. There, she defeated fellow German and 15th seed Sabine Lisicki in three sets, having been down a break in the third. In the semifinals, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. This was <mask>'s then most recent equal-best Grand Slam result, for another three years until Australian Open in 2016. At the London Olympics, <mask> made her first appearance at this stage, and was seeded seventh. She defeated Petra Cetkovská and Tímea Babos first two rounds, to set up a clash with Venus Williams. There, she beat the former world No.1 in two tiebreak sets, to make the quarterfinals where she lost to top seed and eventual bronze medallist Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. In the other disciplines, <mask> partnered Philipp Petzschner in mixed doubles and Lisicki in women's doubles, falling in the first and second rounds, respectively. Competing at the Canadian Open to open her US Open Series campaign, Kerber lost early but bounced back at the Cincinnati Open with another strong result. First, she beat Babos and Andrea Hlaváčková to reach the quarterfinals, where she defeated Serena Williams for the first time, winning in straight sets, thus snapping Williams's 19-match winning streak. She continued with a win over Kvitová in the semifinals, to book a spot in her first Premier 5 final, but lost Li from a set up. At the US Open, sixth-seeded <mask> won a close match against Venus Williams in the second round en route to the fourth round, but failed to defend her semifinal points from a year ago when she lost to eventual semifinalist Errani. <mask>'s next tournament was the Pan Pacific Open where she made it to the semifinals before losing to defending champion Radwańska.She also reached the quarterfinals of the China Open, but fell to eventual runner-up Sharapova. Her breakthrough season ensured herself qualification for her maiden appearance at the WTA Tour Championships. She also hit the world's top 5 rankings for the first time in her career, at world No. 5, entering the week of the season-ending championships, where she was seeded fifth. There, however, she exited the tournament in the round robin stage, without winning any matches, the losses coming in the hands of Serena Williams, Azarenka and Li. Nevertheless, <mask> ended the 2012 season at world No. 5, with 60 wins amassed throughout the season.2013–2014: Continued success and steady ranking in top 10
<mask> began 2013 at the Brisbane International where she was seeded fourth, and made the quarterfinals where she was stopped by eventual runner-up Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Seeded second in Sydney, <mask> made the last four but lost to another eventual runner-up once more, this time in Dominika Cibulková. She then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, completing the set of second-week appearances at all four Grand Slams. Along the way, she defeated Elina Svitolina, Lucie Hradecká, and wildcard Madison Keys. She was subsequently defeated by 19th seed Ekaterina Makarova after struggling with a back injury. After a dry winless spell in the Middle East, <mask> bounced back with a second consecutive semifinal result at the Indian Wells Open, where she was stopped by eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki in three sets, despite having won the first set. Like the previous year, an early exit in Miami followed suit, this time to Sorana Cîrstea.<mask> then reached her first final of 2013 in Monterrey where she was the top seed but lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets. <mask> posted strong results on clay in 2013. Firstly, on Fed Cup, she helped Germany regain its place in the World Group by winning her rubber against Bojana Jovanovski, the German eventually winning the tie 3–2. She then recorded a run to the semifinals in Stuttgart, going one round better than the previous year, where she fell in three sets to defending champion Maria Sharapova. At the Madrid Open, sixth-seeded <mask> moved into the quarterfinals here for the first time after defeating top-40 opposition in Hsieh Su-wei, Alizé Cornet and Svetlana Kuznetsova. There, she lost to Ana Ivanovic in straight sets. At the French Open, <mask> reached the fourth round for the second year in a row but did not go further this time as she was beaten by former champion Kuznetsova in three sets.She did not enjoy much success on grass next, however, as she failed to post back-to-back wins in her tournament appearances on the surface, falling at the second hurdles of both Eastbourne and Wimbledon, to Makarova and Kaia Kanepi, respectively. Having failed to defend her semifinal result at Wimbledon from the year, <mask> fell to world No. 9 in the rankings after the tournament's conclusion. After posting a quarterfinal at the Washington Open, <mask> made her only appearance of the US Open Series in Cincinnati but lost in third round to Li Na, in a rematch of last year's championship match. At the US Open, eighth seed <mask> posted her third fourth-round result at the Grand Slams this year, and second in a row here, after defeating Hradecká, Eugenie Bouchard and 25th seed Kanepi but then lost to 18th seed Carla Suárez Navarro this time. During the Asian swing, <mask>'s form improved as she reached her second final of 2013, at the Pan Pacific Open, having defeated Ivanovic, Wozniacki and Radwańska en route, but there, she lost to Petra Kvitová in three sets. The following week at the China Open, she reached the quarterfinals where she lost to

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 Radwańska, and then advanced into her third final of the season, at the Linz Open.There, <mask> scored her third career title, and third indoors, as she defeated two-time champion Ivanovic, thus and filling up the last spot at the WTA Tour Championships. In her second outing at the Championships, <mask> failed to get past the round robin stage, once more, with losses to Serena Williams and Kvitová. However, she did record her maiden victory at this stage by defeating Radwańska, in her second round robin match. <mask> would finish the year as world No. 9. <mask> began 2014 the same way she did in 2013, logging in quarterfinal or better results in both Brisbane and Sydney, going one round better in the latter this time around by making the final but there, she was stunned by qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova in straight sets. She made the fourth round of the Australian Open once more, falling to 28th seed Flavia Pennetta in three sets this time around.At the Open GdF Suez, former champion <mask> made the quarterfinals where she lost to eventual champion Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. In Fed Cup quarterfinal play against Slovakia, <mask> contributed to the German team's victory by winning both her singles rubbers, over Dominika Cibulková and Daniela Hantuchová. At the Qatar Open, <mask> sailed into her first quarterfinal in the Middle East with wins over Karolína Plíšková and Klára Koukalová. She subsequently moved into her second final of 2014 with wins over qualifier Petra Cetkovská and fifth seed Jelena Janković. There, she lost to Simona Halep in straight sets. After a two-match losing streak across Dubai and Indian Wells, fifth-seeded <mask> made her first quarterfinal showing in Miami, where she lost to defending champion Serena Williams in straight sets. In April, <mask> helped put her country in the Fed Cup final, with Germany taking on Australia in the  last four, by winning both her singles rubbers, against Samantha Stosur and Casey Dellacqua.However, she then endured a three-match losing streak to begin her season on clay, snapping it on home soil in Nuremberg with a quarterfinal appearance, where she was beaten by Plíšková. At the French Open, Kerber made the last 16 for the second year running, falling to rising star and 18th-seeded Bouchard this time around. On grass, Kerber enjoyed better results this year, starting off with her second appearance in the championship match at the Eastbourne International but finished runner-up once more, her third of 2014, this time to youngster Madison Keys in three sets. At Wimbledon, Kerber was seeded ninth and entered the second week for the fourth Grand Slam tournament running, with victories over the likes of defeated Urszula Radwańska, Heather Watson, and previous year's semifinalist Kirsten Flipkens. In the round of 16, she prevailed over reigning French Open champion and fifth seed Sharapova in three sets to move into the her second last eight showing here. There, she lost to eventual runner-up Bouchard in straight sets. Kerber opened her US Open Series campaign in Stanford where she was the third seed.She defeated Coco Vandeweghe in three sets in her opener, to reach quarterfinals where she saw off Garbiñe Muguruza. A win over Varvara Lepchenko, where she had to save a match point, put her in her fourth final of the year, but she had to settle for the runner-up position again, for the fourth time in 2014 when she lost to Serena Williams. After a string of early exits in Montreal and Cincinnati, <mask> made the third round of the US Open with wins over Russian qualifiers, Ksenia Pervak and Alla Kudryavtseva, but lost to unseeded youngster Belinda Bencic. <mask> posted deep runs in Tokyo and the inaugural Wuhan Open the following month, reaching the semifinals and quarterfinals, respectively. In her final tournament of the season, <mask> made the third round of the China Open where she lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova. <mask> did not qualify for the WTA Finals in 2014 but entered the tournament as an alternate, and would finish the season ranked world No. 10.<mask> finished the year by representing Germany in the Fed Cup final, where the team took on the Czech Republic. After dropping her first match to Lucie Šafářová, she came up against Petra Kvitová. There, <mask> dropped the first set tiebreak, and then avoided a bagel down 0–3 in the second set by coming back to win it 6–4. She came up short in the decider, however, as Kvitová launched her comeback from 1–4 down to win it 6–4, ensuring the Czech team an unassailable 3–0, and the title. 2015: Four WTA titles
<mask> started her year of 2015 by posting deep runs in both Brisbane and 2015 Apia International Sydney, with quarterfinal and semifinal results, respectively. However, at the Australian Open, she crashed out in the opening round to Irina-Camelia Begu, and it was the first time <mask> lost at the first hurdle of a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon in 2011. Representing Germany in the Fed Cup quarterfinals where the Germans faced Australia, <mask> scored a win out of her two matches played, over Samantha Stosur, but the 2014 runner-ups would progress by winning the tie 4–1.Her form however did not improve further across the months of February and March as she netted just two wins across five tournaments played, and by the start of April, she had fallen out of the top 10, for the first time since May 2012. At the Charleston Open, fifth seed <mask> overcame a 4–2 third-set deficit to defeat Evgeniya Rodina in her opening match, and then cruised past Lara Arruabarrena to reach the last eight. Her run continued with a win over Begu in two tight sets, followed by another straight-set victory, over fellow German and defending champion Andrea Petkovic, to advance to her first final of 2015. There, <mask> faced seventh seed Madison Keys and she fought back from a 4–1 deficit in the third set to claim her fourth WTA title and her first since the fall of 2013, besides it being her first tournament triumph on clay. In the Fed Cup semifinals, where Germany faced Russia, <mask> won her only rubber played, against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets, dropping just one game. The win, however, was not enough as Germany the deciding doubles match. <mask> was unseeded in Stuttgart to open her season on red clay, and defeated Alexa Glatch in straight sets, before upsetting three-time defending champion Maria Sharapova in three sets.In the quarterfinals, she saw off Ekaterina Makarova, before beating Madison Brengle to reach her second final of the year. There, she fought back from a set and 5–3 down to prevail over Caroline Wozniacki, thus scoring her fifth career title, also her first on home soil, which saw her extend her winning streak on clay to 11 matches. That streak, however, expired in the hands of Stosur in the opening round of Madrid. At the Italian Open, <mask> reached the second round after defeating Alizé Cornet but lost to Begu once more. After a semifinal run in Nuremberg, <mask> exited the French Open in the third round from a set up, in the hands of Garbiñe Muguruza. On grass, Kerber had a bright start, by lifting the title at the Birmimgham Classic where she was the fourth seed. En route, she advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Tsvetana Pironkova and Jelena Janković.She then beat Kateřina Siniaková in straight sets to set up an all-German semifinal where she faced Sabine Lisicki, their first meeting since Wimbledon in 2012. <mask> won in straight sets and subsequently advanced to her third final of the season where she defeated Karolina Plíšková in a tight three-setter for her sixth career title, her first on grass. This marked the first time <mask> had won more than two titles in a season. At the Wimbledon Championships, <mask> advanced to the third round where she crossed paths with Muguruza once more, and lost to the eventual runner-up in three sets. Kicking off her US Open Series campaign in Stanford, fifth-seeded <mask> defended her runner-up result from a year ago by beating Daria Gavrilova and Ana Konjuh to make the last eight where she edged past second seed Agnieszka Radwańska in a three-set marathon to reach the last four. She then beat Elina Svitolina to make the final where she met Plíšková, and defeated the Czech in three sets once again, this time to lift her seventh career title, and became the only player to win titles across all surfaces in 2015. <mask> did not enjoy better results on American hard courts in her following tournaments with early losses in Toronto and Cincinnati.At the US Open, she was the 11th seed came up short in the third round again, this time in a three-set defeat to 20th seed and two-time runner-up Victoria Azarenka in an epic encounter. <mask> bounced back with stronger results in the Asian swing, starting off with a quarterfinal showing in Tokyo where she lost to Wozniacki in three sets. At the Wuhan Open, <mask> reached the last eight after dispatching Jelena Janković and Camila Giorgi, before moving past Coco Vandeweghe via retirement. In the semifinals, she lost to Muguruza once again, this time in straight sets. At the China Open next, <mask> advanced to the last eight where she lost to Radwańska in straight sets. <mask> would then reach her fifth final of the year at the Hong Kong Open but finished runner-up for the first time this season, falling to Janković in three sets. It was announced on 21 October that <mask> had qualified for the WTA Finals, marking her third appearance here.As the sixth seed, she was drawn into the same group with Muguruza and fellow left-handed players Petra Kvitová and Lucie Šafářová. She exited in the round-robin stage, managing just one win that came over Petra Kvitová. Having spent patches of 2015 out of the top 10, <mask> eventually concluded the season as world No. 10, maintaining her season finish from 2014. 2016: Australian Open & US Open champion, Olympic Silver and world No. 1

<mask> began the year at the Brisbane International, posting a runner-up result, with wins over Camila Giorgi, Madison Brengle, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Carla Suárez Navarro en route to the final, where she lost to former champion Victoria Azarenka. In Sydney, <mask> defeated Elina Svitolina in the opening round but then withdrew with an illness.<mask> was the seventh seed at the Australian Open and defeated Misaki Doi in the first round, having been a match point down. She then scored a triplet of straight-set wins over Alexandra Dulgheru, Brengle, and compatriot Annika Beck to reach her first quarterfinal in Melbourne, completing the sweep of quarterfinal appearances at all four Grand Slams in the process. In the quarterfinals, she avenged her Brisbane loss by defeating two-time champion Victoria Azarenka in straight sets, her first win against the Belarusian, to advance to the third Grand Slam semifinal of her career, her first since Wimbledon in 2012. There, Kerber defeated Grand Slam semifinal debutante Johanna Konta in straight sets to reach her maiden Grand Slam final. She defeated defending champion and world No. 1, Serena Williams, earning her first Grand Slam title and becoming the first German to do so since 1999. Besides becoming the first player to win a Grand Slam having been down match point in the first round, she also recorded her best ranking to date as world No.2 following the achievement, surpassing her prior career-high of No. 5 set that she had set in 2012. Representing Germany in the Fed Cup quarterfinals where the Germans faced the Swiss team, <mask> went 1–1 in her singles matches, with Germany losing the tie in the end. <mask> then endured a dry spell across the Qatar and Indian Wells Opens, dropping both her openers. However, she bounced back with a run to the semifinals in Miami where she was stopped by eventual champion Victoria Azarenka. At the Charleston Open, top seed and defending champion <mask> sailed into her consecutive semifinal but this time, retired to eventual champion Sloane Stephens due to a viral illness. In the Fed Cup World Group Play-offs, the German team faced Romania and <mask> duly emerged victorious in her both her singles rubbers, over Irina-Camelia Begu and Simona Halep, losing only four games to the latter, and also her first ever win over her, to keep Germany in the World Group as the team would win the tie 4–1.<mask> was the defending champion in Stuttgart, and successfully defended a title for the first time in her career. After a first-round bye, she beat Beck, Carla Suárez Navarro, and Petra Kvitová to reach the final. There she faced compatriot and qualifier Laura Siegemund and won ten games in a row from 2–4 down in the first set to defeat Siegemund and score her second title of the year and ninth of her career. Another losing streak ensued to close her clay season, however, which includes a loss to Kiki Bertens at the French Open, Bertens then becoming an eventual semifinalist herself. Prior to Wimbledon, <mask> attempted to defend her title at the Birmingham Classic and sailed into the last eight where she met Suárez Navarro once again but lost to Spaniard. At Wimbledon, fourth-seeded <mask> did not drop a set, with wins over Laura Robson, Varvara Lepchenko, Carina Witthöft, Doi and fifth seed Halep, en route to her second semifinal here. There, she moved past former champion Venus Williams to reach the final, where she was defeated by Serena Williams, in a rematch of their Australian Open championship encounter earlier in the year, in straight sets.After Wimbledon, <mask> played at the Swedish Open where she withdrew before her second round match due to an injury. She then reached her first quarterfinal at the Canadian Open with three-set wins over Mirjana Lučić-Baroni and Svitolina. She then beat Daria Kasatkina to make the last four when lost to eventual champion Halep. At the

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 Olympics, <mask> defeated Mariana Duque-Mariño, Eugenie Bouchard, Samantha Stosur to record her second Olympic quarterfinal appearance. Two more wins, over Konta and Madison Keys, saw <mask> book her spot in the gold medal match, where she was defeated by surprise finalist Monica Puig of Puerto Rico in three sets. <mask>'s strong summer continued at the Cincinnati Open where she had her first opportunity to dethrone Serena Williams as the world No. 1 but needs to win the title to do so.<mask> did make the final where she faced 15th seed Karolína Plíšková but lost in straight sets. Nevertheless, <mask>'s strong results throughout the year thus far ensured herself qualification for the WTA Finals, which was announced on 22 August following the conclusion of the Cincinnati tournament. At the US Open, <mask> beat the likes of Polona Hercog, Lucic-Baroni, CiCi Bellis and 14th seed Petra Kvitová to make the quarterfinals here for the first time since her semifinal run back in 2011. She continued with wins over eighth seed and 2015 runner-up Roberta Vinci, and a resurgent Caroline Wozniacki to reach her third Grand Slam final. Her win over Wozniacki, in the semifinals, combined with Serena Williams' defeat to 10th seed Plíšková in the same round meant that <mask> would unseat Serena Williams as the world No. 1 when the new rankings were released on 12 September the following week. In the championship match, <mask> gained her revenge over Plíšková by prevailing over the Czech in three sets to claim her second Grand Slam title, the 10th title overall of her career.At the Wuhan Open, her first tournament since claiming the world No. 1 ranking, <mask> reached the third round where she fell short to Kvitová in a 3-hour-long match. She then fell in the same round at the China Open, this time to Svitolina. Her penultimate tournament appearance of 2016 came at the Hong Kong Open where she lost in the quarterfinals to Daria Gavrilova. On 17 October 2016, Serena Williams pulled out of the WTA Finals in Singapore due to a shoulder injury, and that withdrawal secured <mask>'s spot at the summit of the WTA rankings for the rest of the year, including the year-end No. 1 ranking, another first in <mask>'s career. As the top seed of the Tour Finals, <mask> was drawn in the same group alongside Halep, Keys, and Dominika Cibulková.She won all of her round robin matches, scoring back-to-back wins here for the first time in her career as well, en route to her first semifinal here. She then defeated defending champion Agnieszka Radwańska in straight sets to reach the final where she faced Cibulková once again that week, to whom she lost in straight sets. 2017: Struggles with form and out of top 20
At the start of the 2017 season, <mask> competed at the Brisbane International as the top seed, and won her opening match against Ashleigh Barty in three sets but then lost to Elina Svitolina in the quarterfinals. The following week in Sydney, she dropped opening match to Daria Kasatkina. As the top-seeded player and defending champion at the Australian Open, <mask> overcame a mid-match lapse to see off Lesia Tsurenko in the first round, where she squandered a match point in the second set. <mask> then defeated compatriot Carina Witthöft in the second round and Kristýna Plíšková in the third round. In the fourth round, Kerber lost to eventual semifinalist Coco Vandeweghe in straight sets.Serena Williams, who lost to <mask> in the championship match here 12 months ago, won the tournament this time and amassed enough points to take back the top ranking from <mask>. After a winless showing in Doha, <mask> made the last four in Dubai where she lost to eventual champion Svitolina. The following month, in Indian Wells, <mask> reached the round of 16 where she lost to another eventual champion, this time in Elena Vesnina, but it was enough for <mask> to regain the world No. 1 ranking owing to Serena Williams' withdrawal from the event. This was then followed by a quarterfinal appearance in Miami where she lost to Venus Williams, and then a runner-up showing in Monterrey, where in a rematch of the 2013 final, <mask> fell short to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets. <mask>'s season on clay began with her ranking at world No. 2, and a loss in her opener in Stuttgart to eventual runner-up Kristina Mladenovic.At the Madrid Open, <mask> won back-to-back wins to reach the third round where she retired against Eugenie Bouchard with a back issue, but returned to world No. 1 after the tournament's conclusion nevertheless. At the French Open, <mask> became the first female top seed in history to be ousted in the first round here, falling in straight sets to Ekaterina Makarova. However, she fared better as the season moved to grass courts, by making the quarterfinals in Eastbourne where she was defeated by Johanna Konta. At Wimbledon, <mask> made the second week, falling in the round of 16 to the eventual champion Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets. Due to <mask>'s early exit and Simona Halep's loss to Konta in the quarterfinals, Karolína Plíšková became the new No. 1 after the tournament.Across the US Open Series, <mask>'s struggles in 2017 continued as she netted just one victory across three tournament appearances in the North American hard court summer, which includes a first-round loss to Naomi Osaka at the US Open, where she was the defending champion. With this loss <mask> dropped out of the top 10. The following month, at the Pan Pacific Open, <mask> recorded her best result since Monterrey back in April, as she took revenge on Osaka and then defeated Kasatkina and Plíšková, before falling in the last four to Pavlyuchenkova. The said win over Plíšková in Tokyo was <mask>'s best win by ranking since the 2016 WTA Finals. She would go on to score just one more win for the rest of the year, however, in the first round of the China Open where she beat Osaka once again. After dropping both her two matches in the group stage at WTA Elite Trophy, to Pavlyuchenkova and Barty, <mask> dropped out of top 20 for the first time since 2012, and finished the year ranked world No. 21.Shortly after, on 16 November 2017, <mask> announced that she had parted ways with longtime coach Torben Beltz and has hired Wim Fissette as new coach. 2018: Wimbledon champion, resurgence and return to world No. 2

<mask> started her 2018 season with a first ever appearance at the Hopman Cup, where she partnered with Alexander Zverev. She went undefeated in her singles matches and helped the team cruise into the final where they lost to Switzerland. <mask> followed up that performance with her first title in more than a year, at the Sydney International next. To make the final, she edged past Lucie Šafářová and Venus Williams, saving a match point against the former, to make the quarterfinals where she beat Dominika Cibulková. She set up a championship match with home star Ashleigh Barty after moving past Camila Giorgi.There, she beat the Aussie in straight sets for her 11th career title. At the Australian Open, 21st-seeded <mask> moved into the fourth round with wins over Anna-Lena Friedsam, Donna Vekić and former world No. 1 Maria Sharapova, all in straight sets and dropping no more than four games a set. There, she saw off Hsieh Su-wei in three sets to move into her second quarterfinal here, where she swept aside Madison Keys. In the semifinal, a clash against world No. 1, Simona Halep, both had two match points in the third set but neither were converted. The match then ended 9–7 in the third set, with Halep prevailing.Following her strong Australian summer, <mask> returned to the top 10 once again, ranked world No. 9. <mask> then made the last eight at the Qatar Open where she lost to world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki in three-sets. The following week in Dubai, she lost to Elina Svitolina in the semifinals for the second year in a row, that being her fifth consecutive loss as well. At the Indian Wells Open, 10th seed <mask> beat Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina, avenging her defeat to the latter here a year ago, to reach the last 16 where she beat Caroline Garcia. She lost in the quarterfinals to Daria Kasatkina.<mask> carried on her good form through the Miami Open by sailing into the quarterfinals, defeating Johanna Larsson, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Wang Yafan en route, where she was stopped by eventual champion Sloane Stephens, thus ensuring the latter her top-10 debut. In the Fed Cup semifinal tie against Czech Republic, <mask> dropped both her matches, to Karolína Plíšková and Petra Kvitová. both of her matches she lost in straight sets, the latter defeat ensuring the Czechs a spot in the final. She gained her revenge over Kvitová at first hurdle of the Stuttgart tournament the week after, before retiring against Anett Kontaveit in the following round. She was forced to skip the tournament in Madrid as a result, but bounced back at the Italian Open by making the last eight here for the second time, her first since 2012, but fell victim to eventual champion Svitolina, for the sixth time running. At the French Open, 12th seed <mask> snapped her losing streak here by defeating compatriot Mona Barthel in the first round. After seeing off Ana Bogdan, Kerber took down 18th seed Kiki Bertens, who had defeated her in the first round here two years ago,  and then saw off seventh seed Caroline Garcia to make her second quarterfinal here, her first since 2012.In the quarterfinal, <mask> lost to top-ranked player and eventual champion Simona Halep from a set up. Nevertheless, the result is <mask>'s equal-best result here, after her 2012 quarterfinal run. <mask> started the grass court swing as the second seed in Mallorca, where she lost in the first round to Alison Riske. In Eastbourne, she made the semifinals, falling to eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki, Kerber entered Wimbledon as the 11th seed. She defeated 2010 finalist Vera Zvonareva and 2017 junior champion Claire Liu to reach the third round where she moved past 18th seed Naomi Osaka. She then saw off unseeded Belinda Bencic to make the last eight by when she was the highest seed left in the draw. There, she avenged her loss in Indian Wells earlier in the year to Daria Kasatkina, needing seven match points to seal the revenge and then defeated 12th seed Jeļena Ostapenko to reach her second Wimbledon final.There, in a rematch of the 2016 final, she turned the tides this time around by taking down 25th seed Serena Williams in straight sets for her third Grand Slam title. With this victory, <mask> found herself one Grand Slam tournament shy of the Career Grand Slam, and also returned to world No. 4 in the rankings. <mask> did not enjoy the same success moving to the US Open Series, suffering a trio of early losses. First, at the Canadian Open, fourth seed <mask> lost her opener to Alizé Cornet in straight sets. At the Cincinnati Masters, <mask> lost in the third round to Keys. This culminated in third-round defeat in the hands of 29th seed Cibulková at the US Open despite having led by a set.However, her strong results in the preceding months of the year ensured her a spot at the WTA Finals, sealing her qualification on 10 September. The Asian swing in 2018 was another uneventful outing for <mask> as she lost in the third round of both Wuhan and Beijing, to Barty and Zhang Shuai, respectively. In her fifth appearance at the season-ending WTA Finals, the final edition to be held in Singapore, <mask> was drawn into the same group as Osaka, Stephens and Bertens. There, she got her sole win of the tournament over the former, defeating the Japanese player in three sets. <mask> subsequently concluded 2018 as world No. 2, her second-best finish to a season. In November, <mask> announced a new partnership with Rainer Schüttler as her new coach, having split with Fisette a month prior.2019–2020: Inconsistencies and out of top 20

<mask> kicked off the 2019 season with her second appearance at the Hopman Cup, alongside Alexander Zverev once again; they lost in the final to Switzerland in a rematch of last year's final. In Sydney, Kerber failed in her title defence bid with a loss to eventual champion Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinals. At the Australian Open, second-seeded <mask> moved into the last 16 with straight-set wins over the likes of Polona Hercog, Beatriz Haddad Maia (gaining her 100th Grand Slam match win) and Kimberly Birrell, only to be upset by eventual semifinalist Danielle Collins in straight sets. The following month, Kerber made the semifinals at the Qatar Open where she lost to eventual champion Elise Mertens. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, Kerber lost in the third round to eventual semifinalist Hsieh Su-wei in three sets. At the Indian Wells Open, Kerber reached a Premier Mandatory final for the first time in her career, which is also her first at the Premier Mandatory or Premier 5 stage since Cincinnati in 2016. En route to the final, she defeated Yulia Putintseva to begin, and followed up with two three-set wins over Natalia Vikhlyantseva and world No.9 Aryna Sabalenka, which put her in the last eight. She then advanced to her first semifinal here since 2013 with a win over Venus Williams, where she saw off Belinda Bencic. In the final, young wildcard Bianca Andreescu defeated <mask> in three sets to win the title. At the Miami Open next, <mask> crossed paths with Andreescu once again, in the third round this time, and lost. in three sets. <mask> notably called her opponent "biggest drama queen ever" during their handshake after the match, owing to the multiple medical time-outs the latter had taken during the match. She then recorded a semifinal run at the Monterrey Open where she was the top seed but lost to Victoria Azarenka in three sets.<mask> her clay season in Stuttgart where she made the quarterfinals, but then had to

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 withdraw in the second round of Madrid, having defeated Lesia Tsurenko in straight sets prior, owing to an injury in her right thigh. At the French Open, <mask> lost in the first round to Russian youngster Anastasia Potapova. That match, notably, was the first one played on the newly rebuilt Court Philippe Chatrier. Her form would improve on grass, however, as she started out with a semifinal run in Mallorca where she was the top seed. She followed that up with a runner-up finish in Eastbourne, where she lost to Karolína Plíšková, their fifth encounter in a championship match. However, at the Wimbledon Championships defending champion <mask> was shocked by lucky loser Lauren Davis in the second round. As a result of this defeat, she fell out of the top 10, and then parted ways with her coach Schüttler.<mask>'s dip in form stretched through the US Open Series as she was inflicted with a four-match losing streak, including a second-round loss at the US Open in the hands of Kristina Mladenovic. After that defeat, <mask> stated in her post-match interview that she had not reserved plans to find a new coach nor hire former coach Torben Beltz. At the Pan Pacific Open, <mask> won consecutive matches for the first time in three months by seeing off Americans in Nicole Gibbs and Madison Keys to reach the semifinals, where she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. In her closing two events of 2019, the Wuhan and China Opens, <mask> managed just one win, over Zhang Shuai in the opening round of the latter. She subsequently withdrew from the Luxembourg Open and the WTA Elite Trophy due to a leg injury, thus finishing the year as world No. 20. On 21 November, <mask> announced that she has hired former world No.130 Dieter Kindlmann as her coach. <mask> started her 2020 season in Brisbane, her last appearance here coming back in 2017. However, she was bounced in the opening round by home star Samantha Stosur in two tiebreak sets. Next, at the Adelaide International, she beat Wang Qiang in straight sets to open her tournament here before retiring against eventual runner-up Dayana Yastremska due to a left hamstring injury. At the Australian Open, 17th seed <mask> made the fourth round here for the seventh time in her career, but was defeated by 30th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets. That was <mask>'s last tournament appearance before the 2020 season went into a lockdown following the COVID-19 pandemic. In late July, <mask> reunited with her former coach, Torben Beltz, with whom she captured her first two Grand Slam titles.Her first appearance since the tour suspension was lifted came at the US Open where she lost to eventual semifinalist Jennifer Brady in the fourth round. She finished her season with back-to-back defeats at the Italian and French Opens, in the hands of Siniaková and Kaja Juvan, respectively. She would subsequently end the year ranked world No. 25, her lowest since 2011. 2021: Late season resurgence, brief top 10 comeback

<mask> opened her 2021 season in Melbourne, entering the Gippsland Trophy, a modified warm-up tournament as part of the 2021 Melbourne Summer Series. However, it was later discovered that her flight to Melbourne carried a COVID-19 infected passenger, forcing her into a mandatory and strict hotel quarantine for two weeks which severely limited her practicing opportunities besides preventing her from participating in the aforementioned tournament. The situation was, however, remedied with the creation of the Grampians Trophy.Seeded eighth, <mask>'s run in this tournament returned wins over the likes of Kateřina Siniaková and Ons Jabeur before being defeated by Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals. At the Australian Open, she crashed out in the opening round to fellow lefty Bernarda Pera in straight sets, citing her lack of preparedness from her strict quarantine. The ensuing months of 2021, until the French Open in late May would prove to be a tough one for <mask> as she netted in just six wins across seven tournaments played, and winning consecutive matches on just one occasion in the same stretch, at the Italian Open, where she beat Alizé Cornet and defending champion Simona Halep, the latter via retirement, before taking a loss in the hands of Jeļena Ostapenko. At the French Open, she was bounced at the first hurdle here for the fifth time in past six appearances, this time to Ukraine's Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets. <mask>'s resurgence in 2021, however, did come, on the grass. After an early exit to Victoria Azarenka in Berlin, she won the title at the inaugural Bad Homburg Open, having need to come back from a set down in each of her quarterfinal and semifinal matches, against Amanda Anisimova and Petra Kvitová, respectively, to make her third final in a row on grass, and her first since Eastbourne two years ago. She defeated Siniaková in the final for her third title on grass, her first since Wimbledon in 2018 and the 13th of her career.Seeded 25th at Wimbledon, <mask> navigated her way past the likes of Nina Stojanović, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Aliaksandra Sasnovich and 20th seed Coco Gauff to reach the quarterfinals here for the fifth time in her career. She then saw off 19th seed Karolína Muchová to advance to her fourth semifinal appearance here. There, she lost to world No. 1 and eventual champion Ashleigh Barty in straight sets, despite having served for the second set. <mask>'s first tournament of the year's US Open Series was the Cincinnati Masters, where she defeated Maria Sakkari in the first round in straight sets, before recording her first win over Elina Svitolina in seven meetings in the second round. She next defeated Jeļena Ostapenko, despite twice being a break down in the third set, before advancing to the semifinal after Petra Kvitová retired from their quarterfinal match. The quarterfinal match against Petra Kvitová was <mask> <mask>'s 1000th match in her professional career.In the semifinal, she notched her second loss in straight sets to again, eventual champion Barty. As the 16th seed at the US Open, <mask> fought to take her campaign to the distance, but she was ultimately ousted in the round of 16, matching her performance from the preceding year. In a first-round thriller against Dayana Yastremska, <mask> was down a set and a break in the deciding set, but she was able to force a tiebreak after Yastremska was serving for the match; in the end, after dropping her serve just once in the tiebreak, she was able to take the match. Following a straight-set win over Anhelina Kalinina in the second round to avenge her loss in the French Open earlier in the year, she encountered Sloane Stephens, an opponent she had lost to on five prior occasions. Though Stephens took the first set, Kerber maintained her offensive tactics and won the match by taking the next two sets. The victory set her up for a match with Leylah Fernandez, who had just defeated defending champion Naomi Osaka; in a grueling three-set match that included a second set tiebreak, which saw Fernandez fight her way back into the match, Kerber lost the third set to end her road at the last Grand Slam of 2021. <mask> took on her last tournament of the year at the Indian Wells Masters.The defending finalist entered as the tenth seed and started her campaign with another grueling three-set match, this time in a rematch against Bad Homburg finalist Siniaková. After she lost the second set tiebreak, she was able to hold off Siniaková in the third set to take the match. She followed up the win with another three-set match that pit her against 2018 finalist Kasatkina; after decisively losing the second set, she saved break points when serving for the third set to win the match. <mask> then handed a straight-set loss to Ajla Tomljanović in the round of 16 to set up a first-time encounter with eventual champion Paula Badosa in the quarterfinals. <mask> dropped the first set and was down a double break in the second set but she saved match points to tie the set before Badosa broke her for a last time to win the match. Due to her success throughout the season, <mask> returned to the top 10 for the first time since July 2019, reaching No. 9 on 1 November 2021.Playing style

<mask> is a defensive baseliner, who has been noted for her speed, agility, athleticism, and footwork. She is known for her counterpunching style of play, extending rallies to attempt to draw an error out of more aggressive players, and to be able to hit low-risk winners with ease. Kerber has powerful groundstrokes, allowing her to hit winners from frequently defensive positions. Her forehand is widely considered her most dangerous weapon, with her being able to hit powerful shots with disguise and speed; she is capable of hitting extreme angles with her forehand, which is responsible for many of the winners she accumulates on the court. Her forehand is hit with a short backswing, allowing her to flatten out her forehand, and generate considerable power. Her best shot is her forehand down-the-line. Kerber is known for hitting her backhand whilst squatting, allowing her to generate considerable power and to create sharp angles on the court; she typically utilises her backhand for defensive purposes, however.Her serve is considered her major weakness, rarely serving aces and hitting, on average, fewer service winners than many of her fellow players, with her first serve speed typically peaking at just 104 mph (168 km/h). Her second serve is a particular weakness, and is highly susceptible to attack, meaning that she rarely wins more than 50 percent of second serve points. Despite her weaknesses on serve, <mask> is proficient at defending her serve with her outstanding athleticism. <mask>, however, is one of the best returners on the WTA Tour, ranking consistently in the top 50 players based on percentage of return points won. <mask> experiences her greatest success when she plays with an aggressive mindset, despite her defensive playing style; her occasional slumps in form can be attributed to an over-reliance upon her defensive skills, and an unwillingness to play points aggressively. <mask>'s favourite surface is grass, as the fast pace and low bounce afforded on grass courts suits her defensive playing style, although she has had success on hard courts, as well. Personal life
<mask> is currently based in the Polish town of Puszczykowo, a suburb of Poznań, where her maternal grandfather owns an indoor tennis facility.<mask> speaks German, Polish and English, and also holds dual German-Polish citizenship. She has competed for Germany throughout her career. In an interview, <mask> clarified that, despite strong Polish connection, she considers herself German: "I am German. I play for Germany, I grew up in Germany, and my heart beats for Germany"; however, another time she said: "my heart beats for Poland too". A huge football fan, <mask> has cited German club FC Bayern Munich as her favourite team. <mask> has frequently cited former German tennis player Steffi Graf as her childhood idol and her motivation for pursuing tennis. Endorsements
Kerber has endorsement deals with Adidas, her clothing and shoe sponsor, and Yonex, her racquet sponsor.Kerber uses a discontinued Yonex Vcore SI 100. In early 2015, she became global ambassador of Stuttgart car manufacturer Porsche. In late 2016 she signed a deal with insurance group Generali. In late 2016, she became beauty ambassador for the US cosmetics company Bare Minerals, a Shiseido brand. In 2017, she became the global brand ambassador for Australian health snack brand Slim Secrets and signed with both the Swiss luxury watchmaker Rolex and the software corporation SAP. Kerber has also been named ambassador for children's charity UNICEF. In August 2019, Kerber announced that she became a brand ambassador for Head and Shoulders Suprême.In November 2019, <mask> announced that she became a brand ambassador for Ole Lynggaard Copenhagen. In December 2019, she was named tournament ambassador of the inaugural Bad Homburg Open, which due to the COVID-19 pandemic, did not occur until 2021. Her portfolio of endorsements has made her the second highest-paid female athlete in the world in the annual Forbes list of 2017. Coaches
<mask> has been coached in the past by Torben Beltz (2003—2004, 2011–2013, 2015–2017), Wim Fissette (November 2017–October 2018), Rainer Schüttler (November 2018–July 2019) and Dieter Kindlmann (November 2019–July 2020). In July 2020, she began working with Beltz once again, until they split in November 2021. Career statistics

Grand Slam singles performance timeline

Grand Slam tournament finals

Singles: 4 (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

WTA Championships finals

Singles: 1 (runner-up)

Olympic finals

Singles: 1 (silver medal)

Awards and recognition
Kerber has received the following awards:
 WTA Player of the Year (2016)
 German Sportswoman of the Year (2016, 2018)
 US Open Sportsmanship Award (2016)
 ITF World Champion (2016)
 Nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award for Sportswoman of the Year (2016)
 Named among espnW's Impact25 (2016)
 Named among "Europe's 30 under 30" by Forbes (2017)
 World's second highest-paid female athlete by Forbes (2017)
 Nominated 2018 WTA Player of the Year

References

External links

1988 births
Living people
Australian Open (tennis) champions
German expatriate sportspeople in Poland
German female tennis players
German people of Polish descent
Grand Slam (tennis) champions in women's singles
Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in tennis
Olympic silver medalists for Germany
Olympic tennis players of Germany
Sportspeople from Bremen
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics
Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics
US Open (tennis) champions
Wimbledon champions
World No. 1 tennis players
Hopman Cup

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<mask>, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros,  (30 January 1628 – 16 April 1687) was an English statesman and poet. Life

Early life

<mask> was the son of <mask>, 1st Duke of Buckingham, favourite of James I and Charles I, and his wife Katherine Manners. He was only seven months old when his father was assassinated at Portsmouth by the renegade officer John Felton. Subsequently, he was brought up in the royal household of Charles I, together with his younger brother Francis and the King's own children, the future Charles II and James II. He was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he obtained the degree of Master of Arts in 1642. For a time he was taught geometry by Thomas Hobbes. During this time he was also acquainted with <mask>, whose influence he later accredited with persuading him to follow the English King in the Civil War.Involvement in the English Civil War

In the Civil War he fought for the King, and took part in Prince Rupert of the Rhine's attack on Lichfield Close in April 1643. Under the care of the Earl of Northumberland, <mask> and his brother travelled abroad and lived in Florence and Rome. When the Second English Civil War broke out they joined Royalists under the command of Henry Rich, 1st Earl of Holland in Surrey, in July 1648. Holland scraped together a small force of 600 men and appointed <mask> as his General of the Horse. This force was scattered after a minor engagement near Kingston upon Thames in which <mask>'s brother Francis was killed. <mask> himself escaped after an heroic stand against six Roundhead opponents, his back against an oak tree, which became the stuff of Cavalier legend. After another doomed combat at St Neots the Duke succeeded in escaping to the Netherlands.Exile with Charles II

Because of his participation in the rebellion, his lands, which had been restored to him in 1647 on account of his youth, were confiscated and given to his future father-in-law, Thomas, Lord Fairfax. On 19 September 1649, Charles II conferred on him the Order of the Garter (KG)  and admitted him to his Privy Council on 6 April 1650. In opposition to Hyde, <mask> supported the alliance with the Scottish Presbyterians, accompanied Charles to Scotland in June, and allied himself with the Marquess of Argyll, dissuading Charles from joining the Royalist plot of October 1650, and being suspected of betraying the plan to the covenanting leaders. That May, he had been appointed general of the eastern association in England, and was sent to raise forces abroad; the following year, he was chosen to lead the projected movement in Lancashire and to command the Scottish royalists. He fought alongside Charles at the Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651, but escaped alone to Rotterdam in October. His subsequent negotiations with Oliver Cromwell's government, and his readiness to sacrifice the interests of the church, separated him from the rest of Charles's advisers and diminished his influence. His estrangement from the royal family was completed by his audacious courtship of the king's widowed sister Mary, Princess of Orange, and by a money dispute with Charles.Return and imprisonment

In 1657, he returned to England, and on 15 September married Mary, daughter of Anne and Thomas Fairfax, 3rd Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who had fallen in love with him although the banns of her intended marriage with Philip Stanhope, 2nd Earl of Chesterfield were being called in church. <mask> was soon suspected of organizing a Presbyterian plot against the government. An order was issued for his arrest on 9 October, despite Fairfax's interest with Cromwell. He was placed under house arrest at York House in April 1658, escaped, and was rearrested on 18 August. He was then imprisoned in the Tower of London until his mother and father-in-law negotiated his release on 23 February 1659. He was freed after promising not to assist the enemies of the government, and on Fairfax's security of £20,000. He joined Fairfax in his march against General John Lambert in January 1660, and afterwards claimed to have gained Fairfax to the cause of the Restoration.After the Restoration

The returning King Charles at first received <mask> (who met him at his landing at Dover) coldly, but <mask> was soon back in favour. He was appointed a Gentleman of the Bedchamber, carried the Sovereign's Orb at the coronation on 23 April 1661, and was made Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire on 21 September. The same year, he accompanied Princess Henrietta to Paris to marry the <mask> of Orleans, but made such shameless advances to her that he was recalled. On 28 April 1662 he was admitted to the Privy Council. His confiscated estates, amounting to £26,000 a year, were restored to him, and he was said to be the king's richest subject. He helped suppress the projected insurrection in Yorkshire in 1663, went to sea in the Second Anglo-Dutch War in 1665, and took measures to resist the Dutch or French invasion in June 1666. He was, however, debarred from high office by the influence of Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon, the Chancellor.<mask> now plotted to effect the Chancellor's ruin. He organized parties in both Houses of Parliament to support the Importation Act 1667 prohibiting the import of Irish cattle, partly to oppose Clarendon and partly to thwart the <mask> of Ormonde. Having asserted during the debates that "whoever was against the bill had either an Irish interest or an Irish understanding", he was challenged to a duel by Ormonde's son Lord Ossory. <mask> avoided the encounter, and Ossory was sent to the Tower. A short time afterwards, during a conference between the two Houses on 19 December, he came to blows with the Marquess of Dorchester: <mask> pulled off the marquess's periwig, and Dorchester also "had much of the duke's hair in his hand." According to Clarendon, no misdemeanour so flagrant had ever before offended the dignity of the House of Lords. The offending peers were both sent to the Tower, but were released after apologising; and <mask> vented his spite by raising a claim to the title of Baron Ros, held by Dorchester's son-in-law.His opposition to the government had lost him the king's favour, and he was now accused of treasonable intrigues, and of having cast the king's horoscope. His arrest was ordered on 25 February 1667, and he was dismissed from all his offices. He avoided capture till 27 June, when he gave himself up and was imprisoned in the Tower. He was released by 17 July, was restored to favour and to his appointments on 15 September, and took an active part in the prosecution of Clarendon. When Clarendon fell, he became the chief minister, even though he held no high office except that of Master of the Horse, bought from the Duke of Albemarle in 1668. Villiers was a signatory to The Several Declarations of The Company of Royal Adventurers of England Trading into Africa, a document published in 1667 which led to the creation of the Royal Africa Company. In 1671 he was elected chancellor of Cambridge, and in 1672 high steward of the University of Oxford.He favoured religious toleration, and earned the praise of Richard Baxter; he supported a scheme of comprehension in 1668, and advised the Royal Declaration of Indulgence in 1672. He upheld the original jurisdiction of the Lords in Skinner's Case. With these exceptions <mask>'s tenure of office was chiefly marked by scandals and intrigues. His illicit connection with the Countess of Shrewsbury led to a duel with her husband the Earl at Barn Elms on 16 January 1668, in which the Earl was fatally wounded. The tale that the countess witnessed the encounter disguised as a page appears to have no foundation; but <mask> provoked an outrage when he installed the "widow of his own creation" in his own and his wife's house, and sent his wife to her father's house. <mask> was thought to be behind the idea of obtaining the divorce of the childless queen, Catherine of Braganza (though this never happened). He intrigued against James, Duke of York, against Sir William Coventry—one of the ablest statesmen of the time, whose fall he procured by provoking Coventry to send him a challenge—and against the Duke of Ormonde, who was dismissed in 1669.He was even suspected of having instigated Thomas Blood's attempt to kidnap and murder Ormonde, and was charged with the crime in the king's presence by Ormonde's son, Lord Ossory, who threatened to shoot him dead in the event of his father's meeting with a violent end. Arlington, next to <mask> himself the most powerful member of the "Cabal" and a favourite of the king, was less easy to overcome; and he derived considerable influence from the control of foreign affairs entrusted to him. <mask> always had been an adherent of the French alliance, while Arlington concluded through Sir William Temple the Triple Alliance of 1668. On the complete volte-face and surrender made by Charles to France in 1670, Arlington, a Roman Catholic, was entrusted with the first Treaty of Dover of 20 May—which besides providing for the united attack on the Dutch Republic, included Charles's undertaking to proclaim himself a Catholic and to reintroduce the Roman Catholic faith into England,—while <mask> was sent to France to carry on the sham negotiations which led to the public treaties of 31 December 1670 and 2 February 1672. He was much pleased with his reception by Louis XIV, declared that he had "more honours done him than ever were given to any subject", and, was presented with a pension of 10,000 livres a year for Lady Shrewsbury. In June 1672, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War, he accompanied Arlington to Nieuwerbrug to impose terms on the Prince of Orange, and when these were refused with Arlington arranged a new treaty, the Accord of Heeswijk with Louis. After all this activity he suffered a keen disappointment in being passed over for the command of the newly formed Blackheath Army in favour of the Duke of Schomberg.<mask> was given command of a regiment, but resented serving under Schomberg. He now knew of the secret treaty of Dover, and towards the end of 1673 his jealousy of Arlington became open hostility. He threatened to impeach him, and endeavoured with the help of Louis to stir up a faction against him in

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George Villiers
George
George Villiers
George Aglionby
George
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Duke
Buckingham
Duke
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham


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 parliament. Downfall

This, however, was unsuccessful, and in January 1674 both houses of Parliament attacked <mask>. In the Lords, the trustees of the young Earl of Shrewsbury complained that <mask> publicly continued his affair with the Countess, and that a son of theirs had been buried in Westminster Abbey with the title of Earl of Coventry; <mask> and the countess were required to apologize and give security for £10,000 not to cohabit together again. In the House of Commons he was attacked as the promoter of the French alliance, of "popery" and arbitrary government. He defended himself chiefly by endeavouring to blame Arlington; but the house approved a petition to the king to remove <mask> from his councils, presence and from employment forever.Charles, who had been waiting for a favourable opportunity, and who was enraged at <mask>'s disclosures, quickly consented. <mask> retired, reformed his ways, attended church with his wife, began to pay his debts, became a "patriot", and was claimed by the country or opposition party as one of their leaders. In the spring of 1675 he was conspicuous for his opposition to the Test Oath and for his abuse of the bishops, and on 16 November he introduced a bill for the relief of the nonconformists. On 15 February 1677 he was one of the four lords who tried to embarrass the government by raising the question whether the parliament, not having assembled according to the act of Edward III once in the year, had not been dissolved by the recent prorogation. The motion was rejected and the four lords were ordered to apologize. When they refused, they were sent to the Tower, <mask> in particular exasperating the House by ridiculing its censure. He was released in July, and immediately entered into intrigues with Paul Barillon, the French ambassador, with the object of hindering the grant of supplies to the king; and in 1678 he visited Paris to get the assistance of Louis XIV for the opposition's cause.He took an active part in prosecuting those implicated in the "Popish Plot", and accused the lord chief justice (Sir William Scroggs) in his own court while on circuit of favouring the Roman Catholics. Because of this, a writ was issued for his arrest, but it was never served. He promoted the return of Whig candidates to Parliament, constituted himself the champion of the dissenters, and was admitted a Freeman of the City of London. He, however, separated himself from the Whigs on the exclusion question, probably on account of his dislike of the <mask> of Monmouth and the Earl of Shaftesbury, was absent from the great debate in the Lords on 15 November 1680, and was restored to the king's favour in 1684. Retirement

He took no part in public life after James II's accession, but returned to his manor of Helmsley in Yorkshire, probably because of poor health and exhausted finances. In 1685 he published a pamphlet, entitled A short Discourse on the Reasonableness of Man's having a Religion in which after discussing the main subject he returned to his favourite topic, religious toleration. The tract provoked some rejoinders and was defended, amongst others, by William Penn, and by the author himself in The Duke of Buckingham's Letter to the unknown author of a short answer to the Duke of Buckingham's Paper (1685).In hopes of converting him to Roman Catholicism, James sent him a priest, but <mask> ridiculed his arguments. He died on 16 April 1687, from a chill caught while hunting, in the house of a tenant in Kirkbymoorside in Yorkshire (it is known as Buckingham House and it is located in the town centre), expressing great repentance and feeling himself "despised by my country and I fear forsaken by my God". The miserable picture of his end drawn by Alexander Pope is greatly exaggerated. <mask> was buried on 7 June 1687 in Henry VII's chapel in Westminster Abbey, with greater splendour than the late king. With his death, the family founded by the extraordinary rise to power and influence of the first duke ended. As he left no legitimate children, the title became extinct, and his great estate was completely dissipated; of the enormous mansion he constructed at Cliveden in Buckinghamshire only the arcaded terrace remains. Character
<mask> was one of the archetypal Restoration rakes, part of the "Merry Gang" of courtiers whose other members included John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, Sir Charles Sedley, Charles Sackville, 6th Earl of Dorset, and the playwrights William Wycherley and <mask>.Following the tone set by the monarch himself, these men distinguished themselves in drinking, sex and witty conversation. <mask>biades of the seventeenth century." But even his critics agree that he was good-humoured, good-natured, generous, an unsurpassed mimic, and the leader of fashion. His good looks and amusing wit made him irresistible to his contemporaries, in spite of his moral faults and even crimes. A contemporary observer at the Court of Charles II found him: "Courteous, affable, generous, magnanimous...he is adored by the people....On the other hand he is an atheist, blasphemer, violent, cruel and infamous for his licentiousness, in which he is so wrapped up that there is no sex, nor age, nor condition of persons who are spared from it". His portrait has been drawn by Burnet, Count Hamilton in the Memoires de Grammont, John Dryden, Alexander Pope in the Epistle to Lord Bathurst, and Sir Walter Scott in Peveril of the Peak. John Reresby calls him "the first gentleman of person and wit I think I ever saw", and Burnet bears the same testimony.Dean Lockier, after alluding to his unrivalled skill in riding, dancing and fencing, adds, "When he came into the presence-chamber it was impossible for you not to follow him with your eye as he went along, he moved so gracefully". Racing and hunting were his favourite sports, and his name long survived in the hunting songs of Yorkshire. The Duke was the patron of Abraham Cowley, Thomas Sprat, Matthew Clifford and William Wycherley. He dabbled in chemistry, and according to Thomas Burnet, "he thought he was very near the finding of the philosopher's stone." He set up the Vauxhall glassworks at Lambeth, the productions of which were praised by John Evelyn; and he spent much money, according to his biographer Brian Fairfax, in building substructiones insanae. John Dryden described him under the character of Zimri in celebrated lines in the poem Absalom and Achitophel (to which <mask> replied in Poetical Reflections on a late Poem ... by a Person of Honour, 1682):

<mask>, however, cannot with any truth be called "mankind's epitome". On the contrary, the distinguishing features of his life are incompleteness, aimlessness, imperfection, insignificance, neglected talent and wasted opportunity."He saw and approved the best", says Brian Fairfax, "but did too often deteriora sequi (Latin > "follow the worst")". He is more severely but more justly judged by himself. In light-hearted moments he wrote "Methinks, I see the wanton houres flee, And as they passe, turne back and laugh at me", but his last recorded words, "O! what a prodigal have I been of that most valuable of all possessions—Time!" express with exact truth the fundamental flaw of his character and career, of which he had at last become conscious. Works

<mask> wrote occasional verses, pamphlets, lampoons, satires and plays showing undoubted (but undeveloped) poetic gifts, a collection of which, containing however many pieces not from his pen, was first published by Tom Brown in 1704; while a few extracts from a commonplace book of <mask> of some interest are given in an article in the Quarterly Review of January 1898. He was the author of The Rehearsal, an amusing and clever satire on the heroic drama and especially on Dryden's The Conquest of Granada (first performed on 7 December 1671, at the Theatre Royal, and first published in 1672), a deservedly popular play which was imitated by Henry Fielding in Tom Thumb the Great, and by Sheridan in The Critic.It is believed that Samuel Butler had a hand in it. Dryden had his revenge in his picture of <mask> as Zimri in Absalom and Achitophel. <mask> also published two adapted plays: a version of John Fletcher's The Chances (1682) and The Restoration or Right will take place, from Beaumont and Fletcher's Philaster (publ. 1714); and also The Battle of Sedgmoor and The Militant Couple (publ. 1704). The latest edition of his works is that by T. Evans (2 vols. 8vo, 1775).Another work is named by Wood, A Demonstration of the Deity, of which there is now no trace. Like his father, the younger Duke makes an appearance in Alexandre Dumas père's "Musketeer" novels. The Vicomte de Bragelonne sees him escorting Charles II's sister, Henrietta, to France to be married to Philippe I, Duke of Orléans. He is soon smitten with the young lady, which Philippe perceives quickly, and appeals to his mother, Anne of Austria. Anne, whose love for Villiers Senior was chronicled in The Three Musketeers, convinces him that, due to his feelings, it would be best for French-English relations if he returned home. While in France, however, he earns the enmity of Comte de Wardes, whose father was the lover of Milady de Winter, who was responsible for the old Villiers' death. De Wardes escorts him to a boat destined for England, but before departing, the two men duel and de Wardes is injured.Legacy
In the 2003 British television mini-series Charles II: The Power and The Passion, Villiers is portrayed by the British actor Rupert Graves. In the 2004 motion picture Stage Beauty, Ben Chaplin plays him. Notes

References

 (Volume 2 of the Corrsponcence; volume 6 of the Works). Attribution:

External links

Finding aid to <mask> <mask> papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library. 1628 births
1687 deaths
Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge
British and English royal favourites
Cavaliers
Chancellors of the University of Cambridge
20
English duellists
Villiers, <mask> of the Garter
Lord-Lieutenants of the West Riding of Yorkshire
Lords of the Admiralty
Members of the Privy Council of England
<mask>, 2nd Duke of Buckingham
Earls of Buckingham
Dukes of Buckingham (1623)
Zimri (king)
Literary peers
Military personnel of the English Civil War
Occasional

masks:
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Duke
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
George Etherege
Buckinghamci
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
Buckingham
George Villiers
Buckingham
George Knights
George Villiers