Andrea Petkovic: In the art of being sunny side-up
A rollercoaster career
It seems too far away to reminisce about the time when Petkovic broke into the top-10 for the first time, nearly three years ago, in 2011. Her ascension lasted barely a few months, fleeting away even before anyone could take stock of it with injuries, and the resultant time-away eventually dipping her rankings to lows that belied her actual potential. Included in discussions of the game she still was, but the context and reference had slipped away to denoting her as a ‘has-been.’ It wasn’t as much conscious as it was sub-conscious and these implications were a lot more obvious than what remained unsaid about her chances.
Till last year, Petkovic was thought to have faded away completely. Not only by the observers of the sport, but also by herself. The latter emerged in the light of her successful run to the semi-finals at Roland Garros, with her admitting having briefly contemplated hanging up her tennis boots for good, after a demoralising performance at the same tournament in 2013. She failed to make it past the qualifying stages then.
Amidst the numerous ‘what-ifs’ that surround the sport and the players, the possibility of Petkovic turning herself away from active tennis is one scenario that’s thoroughly unpalatable. No matter which way one ponders and evaluates it and regardless of how one tries to sugar-coat it for the benefit of larger imaginations.
A player whose effervescence never dims – both on and off court – Petkovic is one of those who has the amazing ability to take life as it comes. Be it her breaking into an impromptu dance moves only because she promised one of her fans that she would do it, or her wry update of one of her practice sessions before the French Open on Twitter. There’s always something to learn from Petkovic and her laidback, and easygoing attitude which makes for her being an intrinsic part of the tennis mix, as it presently is.
Recent form is encouraging
Now, she’s back swinging; into the groove, so to speak.
Petkovic’s two titles so far, at Charleston and now, at Bad Gastien, make a strong case for her getting to make a comeback – sort of like a second breakthrough – into the playing fold. Additionally, these wins – her first multiple title wins in a season – have given her much needed thrust to her rankings, especially her win at Bad Gastien which has propelled her to the 18th place in the singles rankings.
After being forced to remain on the sidelines, these are also the kinds of events that make it all the more worthwhile to be optimistic about the feisty German. With the US Open series soon to begin, expectations are sure to rise – in a way, they already have – for her to go deeper in the tournaments she plays and consequentially, higher in the rankings.
The prospects seem better inclined toward her given that hard courts bring out the best in her game, perhaps second only to her tactical insightfulness on clay. While the four WTA singles events that Petkovic’s won till now have all come on clay, three of her four runner-up finishes have been on hard courts. Even her personal best at majors, before she made it to the semi-finals of the French Open this year, came at the Australian Open and US Open.
As far as maintaining her rhythm goes, while on a high, Andrea Petkovic’s been always able to make it count for longer stretches of time. If not for injuries and relapses last time round, there’s no saying what she could have achieved.
The call of extent of longevity of that stretch will forever remain an unknown entity, brutally curtailed like the dissipation of white clouds under sudden stormy fogs. This moment though, for Petkovic, is like the sun peeping back from the shadows of darkness bringing the promise of brighter and better things to come – like her own sunny self, after tougher and harsher expeditions on the tour.