TENNIS 2014 ROLAND GARROS – 4th of June. A. Petkovic d. S. Errani 6-2, 6-2. An interview with Andrea Petkovic
Q. Must be a great satisfaction. What was going through your mind when you were down 2 0 at the beginning? Were you worried or tense or what?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah, well, I had a very good game plan from my coach. It didn’t work in the beginning, so I was getting a little not panicked, but, you know, when you have a certain game plan and you lose the first two games and it’s not working, so I was kind of getting a little worried.
But, you know, I trust my coach a great deal, so I told myself, Stick with it for this set. If it doesn’t work out, you can still change something. If it works out, then keep going.
So I was lucky that I started playing better and that I was putting more balls into play. And then also the game plan started working out better.
Q. Her serve was helping you quite a bit. Her serve was very weak today, more than usual. Do you think that? And you were always attacking since the beginning.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah, well, I played her in Madrid for a couple of weeks ago, and I wasn’t attacking the serve as much as I could. I was being aggressive, but not as aggressive as I could.
So definitely one of the parts today was being very aggressive on her serve and trying to maybe get into the net and just make pressure visually on her.
So I was hoping that her serve might break down if I’m being very, very aggressive. So that was one part of the game plan, and it worked out.
I was happy, yeah.
Q. You talked about your coach. That’s Eric. Can you tell us what you worked on for the past few months and what it’s like?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I’m still not at the end. There are still a lot of things I need to learn from him. He has a lot of experience and a lot of ideas about my game.
We have been working for three months, so there were a lot of things that I wasn’t able yet to learn and to sort of bring into my game.
But one thing that we worked on was technically just getting my strokes a little safer and higher above the net and not as flat anymore. Because my thing was when I was playing well everything was fine, but once my footwork was off I was missing a lot of shots and giving a lot of easy mistakes.
That’s one thing we were working on. Also my serve. But that’s still a work in process. My serve is not there where it’s gonna be hopefully in a couple of months or even in a year, because it takes a lot of work.
I was serving very awkwardly before. Now I’m trying to get a more fluent motion. It’s still a work in process. There are matches like today when a lot of things come together, but there are also matches when some things fall apart.
So it’s a work in process.
Q. To your credit, you’re so open, so emotional. When you had all your setbacks, what was the worst moment, the worst time when you had the greatest doubt? Likewise, now that you have had this incredible achievement, what could you say to yourself? What is your feeling?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, I think the worst moment for me was not when I was injured, because at that time you are injured. You’re full of hope. I’m an optimistic person, so I figured everything would be good just as soon as I step back on court and everything will be fine and I will feel happy again and I will be satisfied with myself.
That was not the case, because once I stepped back on court, the thing that made me unhappiest was the fact that I wasn’t playing as well as I did. My footwork was off. My strokes were worse. My serve was awful.
So that was the worst moment for me, just not being the tennis player that I used to be. I just couldn’t accept that in the beginning. So that was, for me, the toughest part coming back from the injuries.
And now obviously the title in Charleston was a relieving moment for me. Just, you know, I hadn’t won a premier title before my injury, so that was just that gave me so much more relaxation mentally and physically, because I wasn’t as rushed as before.
When I lost a few matches early, I wasn’t as stressed and as panicked anymore, because I figured I won the tournament in Charleston. Everything will be fine. So just keep going.
I think that was the nicest moment for me happiness wise, but also just to keep me calmer mentally.
Q. You said after your previous match that you lost your love for tennis last year and considered other careers, such as journalism. You have written for various media. How would you write about your comeback from the injuries and your performance here?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Oh, gosh. That’s a very good question.
I really don’t know, because I am in my shoes, as well. So I would try to keep it as low key as possible, because I know that I get very excited about stuff.
But then the pressure comes hand in hand with this excitement. When I play really well, the thing with my injuries was that it now has a nail of doubt every time when I play well. I’m just so scared that it might slip away again.
Because I was the happiest when I was in the top 10 and was one of the top players, and then it was just taken away from me.
So now every time I have happy moments and nice wins, it immediately brings the doubt and the fear of that it might slip away again.
So it’s always you know, it’s a difficult thing for me being all the way positive again and just trusting that everything will be fine, because I learned it the other way. I’m very cautious with wins and with happy moments and trying just to stay with both feet on the ground and enjoy the moments when they are there.
Q. In the deeper of yourself, do you really think it’s a surprise to see you this level of the tournament, or you believe is the level you have to have, this is your place?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I’m not sure if I understood the question right, but are you asking me if I deserve to be in the semifinals? Okay. Good. That’s nice (Laughter).
I hope you are not insinuating anything.
Q. If you, inside yourself, think finally you arrive where you deserve to be.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah. Well, you know, some people might say I had a really good draw. And I did have a fine draw.
But then again, second player of the world lost to a player that I beat afterwards. You know, I had tough matches, and I’m not coming from nowhere to the semifinals. I was in three quarters before and I won Charleston. I won two other tournaments.
I played a lot of big semis and finals and quarterfinals of other tournaments. I don’t think I’m coming from nowhere. It’s not super surprising, yet it’s still a very special moment for me because I haven’t been in the semis before.
