ZDF presenter Andrea Petkovic tries "Freestyle" in front of the camera
Andrea Petkovic continues to successively make her transition into the post-career period. Even while she is active on the WTA tour, the 32-year-old will host the ZDF sports reportage in the future.
by SID
last edit: Oct 20, 2019, 01:41 pm
Andrea Petkovic has switched off the teleprompter once. Read off pre-made texts from the screen, which is simply not the nature of the eloquent Darmstädterin, which will moderate the ZDF sports reportage from December. "I'm doing it freestyle, it works better," she told the Süddeutsche Zeitung . After all, as a tennis player she has always done the best and wants to continue to do so.
Petkovic is not about to end her existence as a professional athlete - regardless of the commitment to public service broadcasting. "So I'll definitely be there for another year," she revealed recently to the Austrian newspaper Der Standard . Their ZDF appearances are rather to be matched with the tournament dates, the first two on 1 and 8 December fall into the already play-free time.
One thing is certain: Petkovic continues to work on her career after her career and successively completes the transition. Prior to her moderation debut, she has worked as a co-commentator for the Hessischer Rundfunk on a Davis Cup match, was a columnist for the Süddeutsche Zeitung and published a text about the indie rock band Tennis in the US Racquet Magazine had accompanied on their tour.
The essay, titled "Tennis vs. Tennis," was recently honored and included in the anthology Best American Sports Writing . "It came as a surprise," Petkovic said proudly, "I did not know that the editor-in-chief of the magazine had submitted the story, and I am very happy."
Autobiography as "auto-fiction"
The 32-year-old is already working on her biography as well - unlike most athletes - she writes completely without ghostwriters herself. "My publishing house calls it 'auto-fiction'," she explains: "All the things that happen in it are but I streamlined and put together to get the reading flow. " When she writes her life "one on one", it becomes "very lengthy".
At the ZDF, meanwhile, they are looking forward to a "natural talent", which the managers after two moderator castings without a degree, training or internship trust the addition of the team around the experienced presenters Rudi Cerne and Norbert König. "She is a great tennis player, a great personality with a lot of charm and clear opinion," said ZDF sports director Thomas Fuhrmann the decision: "She also has a special talent in front of the camera."
Almost all sub-projects have Petkovic as a tennis player at least occasionally still perform remarkably well. In the WTA tournament in Linz, Austria, she reached the semi-finals in the previous week, lost only against US teen sensation Cori Gauff (15), the later tournament winner. Petkovic has been a journalist only part-time.