WTA Hamburg: Andrea Petkovic is looking forward to a "class reunion" - and Carlos Alcaraz
Now we can finally start! Tournament ambassador and last year's finalist Andrea Petkovic was the first player to arrive at the Hamburg European Open on Wednesday.
by p.m
last edit: Jul 15, 2022, 07:27 am
Andrea Petkovic about....
...her role as tournament ambassador:
“I have a personal connection to Rothenbaum because I played my very first WTA tournament here. At that time I was 14 or 15 years old and played against my first top 100 player here. I always did well in school, but this event made me want to become a professional tennis player and live my life around it. You can't erase that from a heart or a person. In general, it is important to me that women and men play tennis next to each other here and that tennis fans have the opportunity to see both here. I believe that tennis fans are fans of players and their personality and not men's tennis or women's tennis. It is very important to me that these opportunities are opened up for all tennis fans here in Hamburg and I would like to make a contribution to this."
...the “Combined Event”:
"There is an incredible amount of work in this tournament - least of all from me. I did what I could. But above all Sandra Reichel and her team made sure with their great work that this event comes to Hamburg. The combined event at this point is extremely important for the tournament landscape. Otherwise, after Wimbledon, everything immediately shifted to America. Now we can present women's and men's tennis here on a great date during the Hamburg summer holidays. I know from my colleagues that they like it when everyone is there. It almost feels like a family reunion.”
...her personal sporting expectations of the tournament:
"The good thing is that the points have already been thrown out because the tournament took place two weeks earlier last year. So I have the feeling that I can only win points and have nothing to defend. That's great mentally. But I played really well and solidly this year and even on grass I celebrated my first top 10 win. I already had a few highlights in 2022 and now I hope to be able to build on them on my favorite surface on sand. The field of participants is even stronger than last year, but I am really looking forward to the challenge.”
...German women's tennis after the successes at Wimbledon:
“Jule has made a great step forward. She already showed her skills last year and has become even more stable. Now the next generation is coming too, with Eva Lys and Nastasja Schunk and then me as the old iron in between. I believe that we will have a good German tournament and of course I hope that the hype caused by Tatjana reaching the semi-finals in Wimbledon will also mean that a few more girls in Germany will now pick up a tennis racket."
...the player from Herrenfeld that she really wants to see live:
"I would like to see Carlos Alcaraz play, I haven't been able to do that in his career, which is still quite short. So it's more his fault than me so far."