Former World No. 1 Angelique Kerber will take on a new role this season, claiming the position of sporting director at the WTA 500 Bad Homburg Open in her home country.

The retired German star will share dual leadership of the grass-court event with tournament director Aljoscha Thron, her long-time manager. The Bad Homburg Open will be celebrating its fifth edition this year, and its second straight edition as a WTA 500 event.

"The tournament was a project of the heart for me from the outset," Kerber said. "I know what the players need. Some work will be awaiting me."

Kerber has had a storied history with the tournament. She came into the inaugural edition as a tournament ambassador in 2021, and promptly went on to win the title over Katerina Siniakova that year -- the 13th of her 14 career WTA singles titles.

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Since then, Caroline Garcia (2022) and Siniakova (2023) have joined the list of Bad Homburg champions. Last year, Diana Shnaider won one of her four 2024 titles at the event.

Kerber's glittering playing career, which includes three Grand Slam singles titles and 34 weeks at World No. 1, came to an end with an excellent run to the quarterfinals at last year's Olympic Games in Paris, eventually losing to eventual champion Zheng Qinwen. Kerber had previously been an Olympic silver medalist at Rio 2016.

Kerber has even more to look forward to in 2024: she announced her second pregnancy earlier this month. Kerber is already mom to 2-year-old Liana.