RICHARD EVANS REPORTS ON MIAMI TENNIS, DISCUSSES ANDY MURRAY AND THE FABULOUS ANDREA PETKOVIC

Written by: Staff on 31st March 2015

RICHARD EVANS REPORTS ON MIAMI TENNIS, DISCUSSES ANDY MURRAY AND THE FABULOUS ANDREA PETKOVIC

epa04685680 Andy Murray of Great Britain in action against Santiago Giraldo of Colombia during their third round match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 29 March 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER |

After beating Kevin Anderson 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the quarter finals of the Miami Open, Andy Murray found himself celebrating the 500th win of his career by cutting a huge cake at his press conference.

Taking the task very seriously, Murray might have been practicing for the day – which might come, you never know – when he serves guests at his hotel in Dunblane, Scotland.

Murray press conferences are not always that fun, despite his guarded attempts to let his dry humor break through and certainly offer a contrast to those of Andrea Petkovic who certainly takes the cake (excuse the pun) for giving open, honest, intelligent and often hilarious interviews.

Continuing the fine form that she has been enjoying this year, the German had just beaten the promising young Czech, Karolina Pliskova with impressive ease, 6-4, 6-2 and was soon offering a typically frank assessment of her moods and thought processes. A month ago I had the chance to sit down for the first time with Andrea when we found ourselves at the Qatar Open and enjoyed the full force of this bright woman’s intellect.

A self-admitted bewildering mix of contradictions, the German with Serbian-Bosnian parentage can be an order freak of Rafael Nadal proportions (“my German side”) or a nutty goof-ball who reaches for the edge of insanity as she dances on YouTube for her Petkorazzi show. She loves playing pranks on her friends but searches for museums, concerts and plays while visiting major cities. She adores abstract art but paints ‘horribly’ herself.

“I’m a torn soul,” she laughed. “I love culture. I’m obsessed by creative people but I’m not at all creative myself.”

Really? I’m not so sure about that. Just being Andrea Petkovic is a creation in itself. To say that, on the WTA tour she is ‘pas comme les autres’, is a massive understatement. To wear a false moustache, a fez and do an Arabic dance on YouTube may not get you into the Comedie Francaise but it’s a start.

On court and off, the 27-year-old comes across as a life force with energetic body language and huge, welcoming smile. She is back in the top ten again now and playing well but life has not always been a laughing matter for her. Plagued by two consecutive injuries, her ranking plunged to 177 in 2013.

“I was shattered by the injuries,” she admitted. “Coming one after the other was really tough and I was really depressed for over a year. I kept asking myself why this was happening to me and began blaming other people.”

I told her the story of Arthur Ashe’s response to a similar question when he was dying of AIDS from a faulty blood transfusion. When a friend asked if he wondered why it had happened to him, Arthur replied, “Why not me?”

Andrea Petkovic of Germany celebrates after defeating Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic during a quarterfinal match at the Miami Open tennis tournament on Key Biscayne, Miami, Florida, USA, 31 March 2015. EPA/ERIK S. LESSER

Petkovic admitted that kind of philosophy could have helped her at the time but now she has found a balance again and, amongst many other things, has rationalized her original antipathy to playing in Dubai and Doha. “As a woman, I had problems at first,” she said. “Then I realized that theirs was a different culture and the best thing we could do as players was to show what women are able to achieve. Not just show the women but the men, too. To be at the top of the women’s game now you have to be a great athlete – Venus and Serena led the way with that – and so we are good role models. We have a responsibility to cross borders and show what it is possible to achieve.”

Andrea’s attraction to non-conformity has led her to Oscar Wilde and many other ‘alternative authors’ and she reads them in German, Serbian, English or French. But equally she admires the way her good friend Novak Djokovic has reigned himself in and disciplined himself to represent Serbia in the right way.

“I have slipped into a few of Novak’s press conferences just to listen to how he handles himself,” she says. “Always with such dignity and clarity. I admire that so much.”

The search for a balance in her life was a theme she picked up on again here in Miami after reaching the semi-finals – balance and mood and ambiance.

“Well, I think the thing with Miami for me is that I am naturally a very uptight person when it comes to my job,” she said in answer to a question about playing well in south Florida. “I’m just very stiff German. (the smile is large). So, like, in my personal life I’m total opposite. I love having fun and dancing and joking around and doing fun stuff but in my job I’m very straightforward and disciplined. With the discipline comes a lot of tightness as well. Miami kind of relaxes me. I don’t know, maybe it’s because it’s kind of crazy and chaotic. These two opposites, they sort of mesh into a balance that’s good for me.”

Petkovic mentioned Paris as another city which is obviously good for her soul. “I feel very comfortable in Paris,” says the player who made her big Grand Slam breakthrough at Roland Garros last year by reaching the semi-final.

Referring back to what she told me in Qatar about being a ‘torn person’, she talks about her Serbian parents and the Serbian blood which gives her a fiery side. “But I’m a total stereotype of a German,” she laughs. “I’m kind of proud of it. It’s nothing bad. But the minute it gets too much, it transforms into tightness and then I just can’t play at all. It’s horrific to watch, actually.”

She smiles and changes the subject. Andrea has been buying art. “I bought a Swedish artist, Jacob Fallander. He does photo art – he paints into it. Now I’m thinking of buying a French impressionist.”

Not a Renoir or a Monet, she is aware they are out of her league. “I’m just a beginner, you know. I have just one piece of art now and I’m talking about it like I’m the biggest collector ever!”

More gales of laughter and Andrea Petkovic goes off to check the semi-final prize money to see exactly what she can afford. Her German side will ensure she spends it wisely.

Richard Evans by Francisco Resendiz.

Topics: Andrea Petkovic, Andy Murray, Miami, Miami Open tennis, Novak Djokovic, Richard Evans, Sports, Tennis

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10sBalls_com says:

March 31, 2015 at 6:51 pm

RICHARD EVANS (@Ringham7) REPORTS ON #MiamiOpenTennis, DISCUSSES @andy_murray AND THE FABULOUS @andreapetkovic- http://t.co/EnjZho4ypM