Andrea Petkovic regrets her situation as the only remaining German tennis player at the clay court tournament in Hamburg.
“It’s sad for me. I always think it’s good when the pressure spreads across everyone’s shoulders when the next generation slowly takes over the helm,” said the 34-year-old after reaching the quarter-finals at Rothenbaum. “But apparently the old iron still has to hold up the flag and we’re doing it with cracking joints.”
Petkovic had prevailed in the round of 16 with 6: 4, 6: 3 against the Japanese Misaki Doi. This makes her the only one of a total of eleven German professionals who started in the tournament. On Tuesday evening, Daniel Altmaier was the last remaining German player to fail in the men’s competition.
“It’s always better for the tournament, the atmosphere is different when there’s a German on the pitch,” said Petkovic, who also plays the role of tournament ambassador. She is hoping for her second final in a row in Hamburg: “I’ll try to make it to the end.” In the round of the top eight, Petkovic meets either the top seeded world number two Anett Kontaveit from Estonia or Rebecca Peterson from Sweden.