Andrea Petkovic has started successfully into her hard court season. The woman from Darmstadt reached the eighth-finals of the WTA event in Washington D.C by beating Jamie Loeb (USA) 6:1, 6:1.
Not allowed a single break point, only ten points on his own serve and only eleven Unforced Errors on the black list: Andrea Petkovic’s testimonial at the beginning of the North American Hardcourt-Swing was truly impressive. As an additional treat for the spectators in the “Stadium”, the Centre Court of the Citi Open, there was even a small “Petko Dance” on top.
“I was very solid and really satisfied with my performance. This time the courts are slower than last year, so you have to work harder for the points,” said the 30-year-old later in an interview with Tennis Channel, stressing: “I always like coming back here. “I used to play well in Washington.”
True: In 2013 she lost to Magdalena Rybarikova (Slovakia) in the final – and last year in the semi-final of her Fed Cup colleague Julia Görges. In the match for the quarter-finals, a very special challenge could now await Petkovic at Rock Creek Park Tennis Center. The Hessian will face the winner of the match between US Open winner Sloane Stephens (No. 2) and Bethanie Mattek-Sands (both USA).
That “Petko” doesn’t have to fear the big names was shown by the number 91 of the WTA ranking in the third round of the French Open when she gave the later tournament winner and industry leader Simona Halep (Romania) a very hot dance in the first set before she broke in because of an injury.
During the almost three-week preparation for the 250,000 dollar tournament in Washington, the Darmstadt native had spent a lot of time in the gym and, as so often, had paid attention to her knees, the Achilles’ heel of her body for years.
But the fun wasn’t neglected either. At the wedding of her Serbian coach Dusan Vemic with Jelena Zivanovic in mid-July at a castle in Belgrade “we danced until two o’clock in the morning,” Petkovic revealed, adding with a smile: “Perhaps this is the best preparation for a tournament.