Her last Grand Slam performance ended in tears. The former ninth in the world rankings gave everything again at the US Open at the end of August in her adopted home of New York in her "last dance" - but after a little more than two hours she had to admit defeat to the Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic and was eliminated in the preliminary round.
Andrea Petkovic, who will be 35 this Friday, announced the end of her career in the spring, which made it all the more difficult for her to say goodbye to the big tennis stage. "I still love the game and continue to feel a tremendous passion," she said after her match.
First Grand Slam tournament at age 16
"I gave the sport everything I could. This year, for the first time, I had the feeling that my story had been told and that the new generation was taking over," she looked back at the end of her professional career.
Her sporting history began at the age of six, when she started playing tennis at the suggestion of her father and coach. At the age of 16, Andrea Petkovic took part in a Grand Slam tournament at the French Open in 2007 and managed to qualify for the main draw without losing a set, where she was eliminated in the second round. In the same year she moved into the top 100 in the world rankings and became German champion.
Bad luck with injuries and years of success
After a cruciate ligament rupture in 2008, Petkovic fought his way back into the sport's leaderboard. In 2009 she won her first WTA tournament in Bad Gastein, and in 2010 she reached the round of 16 in a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. After successes over Venus Williams and Maria Sharapowa, she reached the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the Australian Open in 2011, and in the same year she was ninth in the world rankings and reached the top of the world.
In the years that followed, Petkovic's career was repeatedly overshadowed by serious injuries that led to long mandatory breaks. In 2014 she made a successful comeback season - winning two WTA tournaments and this time advancing to the semifinals of the French Open.
Top 10 again and a sporty descent
In 2015, Petkovic once again returned to the top ten in the world tennis rankings. However, the necessary consistency was lacking in the following year, so that at the end of the season, which was characterized by coach changes and sporting disappointments, she was only 55th in the world rankings.
Lots of interests besides sports
In recent seasons, Petkovic often failed to get past the first round at major tournaments. She kept thinking about the end of her career and soon shifted her interests to new fields of activity. Since December 2019, Petkovic has been in front of the camera at irregular intervals as the moderator of the "Sportstudio-Reportage". As an author, she also reports in columns and essays for "Spiegel", "Zeit" and "Süddeutsche Zeitung", among others.
In 2020 she founded a book club on Instagram, where she exchanged literature with her followers. In the same year she also published her first book, the short story collection "Between Glory and Honor Lies the Night", in which she writes about the loneliness at tournaments, in the hotel room and about being constantly on the move.
Even though her "story has now been told" in professional tennis, there will certainly be a few more stories to read or see from her soon.
