At the start of the tennis tournament at Hamburg’s Rothenbaum, the German talents had a hard time. Andrea Petkovic remained sovereign.
Andrea Petkovic started a spontaneous little dance and for the first time there was really loud cheering on the center court at Rothenbaum in Hamburg.
The German number two, last year’s finalist and tournament ambassador at the traditional tennis event, confidently made it into the round of 16.
Petkovic showed her routine in the 6:3, 6:3 win against local hero Tamara Korpatsch and was happy about the successful start.
“Overall, it was solid from me, but there are still a few adjustments,” said the 34-year-old, who once heralded her long career with a performance on the Elbe: “It’s the most beautiful center court in the world.”
DTB aims to reassign the men’s license
For the first time in 44 years, men’s and women’s competitions are taking place in parallel in Hamburg – a unique selling point in the German tournament landscape. But it is questionable whether this will remain so in the long term.
The German Tennis Association is aiming to reassign the men’s license from 2024, which the current organizers Sandra and Peter Michael Reichel clearly criticized in advance.
“Our task as the DTB is to find the best solution for the association, which is why we have made a new call for tenders,” said DTB President Dietloff von Arnim recently to the “Hamburger Abendblatt”.
But now the sporting headlines from the Elbe should first penetrate again – Petkovic contributed to this.