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ROLAND GARROS

May 31, 2018

Andrea Petkovic

Paris, France

A. PETKOVIC/B. Mattek-Sands

6-0, 7-6

THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please.

Q. That was kind of two matches, wasn't it? You want to talk about that?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah. Well, I think I played really well in the first set, but also Bethanie didn't find her rhythm at all, and she was missing a lot of balls.

And that's kind of a dangerous thing when you win the first set 6-0, because I think I was playing really aggressive and really deep, and I also kind of forced her to make mistakes.

But when someone is missing a lot, you sometimes tend to play it safe; right? So I think she started playing much better in the second set, and I had to find a good balance between still being aggressive and not play it too safe.

And I think in the important moments I took the -- well, I just took the -- Jesus, sorry. My English is horrible today.

I was more courageous and I played more aggressive, I guess.

Q. That was the first time since 2015 you're into the third round of a Slam. What is the sort of satisfaction level like for you?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: On a level from one to ten, it's like a strong eight. A very strong eight, yeah.

It's been a while. I knew I was playing much better this year. And I had a great win at the Australian Open, but then run out of gas in the second round.

So I really wanted to back it up this time and not fall flat in the next round like I did at the Aussie Open. And I think I managed to do so, so I'm very happy.

Q. Next round you likely get Halep, which would be a rematch of your match here. What do you think that would be like?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, as I said, I think I'm playing well. I will down and talk a little bit of game plan with my coach, because I have always had really close matches against her.

There was a few times where I lost 6-4 in the third, 7-6 in the third, and I just want to sit down and look at the game plan a little bit. Maybe look at some videos and see if I can -- if there are a few things, little things, that I could do better.

But, obviously, she's playing really well here, and it's going to be a really tough, tough thing for me to play against. But it's going to be a big court again, so I'm going to do my best to enjoy it and play my best.

Q. The other day you made a quip that "Everybody knows I've got a lot going on upstairs, a lot of thoughts." And I was just wondering, do you think tennis players or athletes in general, sometimes it can be a bit of an issue to have too much going on upstairs? To be too intellectual, for lack of a better word?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I think there are two sides of it. On the court itself, it's better to have as little thoughts as possible and try to be in the moment and sort of find the Zen-like state of mind. I think that's the best for on court.

But I think off court my mind has helped me in tremendous ways just because I was able to be really good in my analysis and analyze where I went wrong and what I could do better.

So these little things, I think a strong mind can also help you -- or a lot of thoughts can also help you if you manage to put in some structure into it and have people that guide you in a good direction.

So it's two-sided sword? Is that an expression?

Q. Double-edged.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Double-edged. That's what I was going for. I knew something sounded off. It was something with a sword and Middle Ages and a lot of knights.

Q. And, obviously, you went through a lot of injuries, but what was the key, one thing where your mind helped you? And also on court, I mean, this is a sport where self-talk, you're out there by yourself for a long, long time. Do you ever drive yourself crazy a little bit with all the self-talk or is it okay?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, I think everybody has the feelings every now and then that you want to be somebody else, I think, for at least a day or so, just to get out of your own head. So I've had that feeling definitely, and many times after bad losses or where my mind maybe got in the way.

But I'm 30 now, which is very old for tennis but very young for life. So I feel like my experience helps me to, as I said, point my thoughts in the right direction a little bit better and also cope with losses better afterwards and just try to manage, you know, to direct things in the right direction overall.

It's always an up and down and it's always a process, but I feel like I'm heading towards the right direction for at least now. Let's see. We have 48 more hours until the next match, and then we'll see.

Q. So given your off-court interests, I have to ask you, what is your current reading list and how does that relate to tennis?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Actually, I'm reading the biography of Barack Obama right now, which is super interesting, because it's a really good biography. It just goes up until his presidency.

You know which one? Yeah, it's a really big one, but it's just after the campaign, after he becomes elected president and finishes.

And what I find interesting is how he really was very pragmatic. And people tend to see this kind of persona the media made of him, but he was very pragmatic. And he really worked on his weaknesses. And he wasn't that charismatic guy to begin with, but he worked on his skills.

And I thought that was really interesting that this is something you can actually learn or -- well, there are a few things that also he had inside of him, but he really managed to learn and improve.

And that was very interesting to me, because I kind of took it for granted that he's just this charismatic person that all of a sudden appeared and everybody loved him. So that was very interesting to me.

And I'm also reading a fiction book right now -- I always read one non-fiction and one fiction -- by Rick Moore. It's called -- what is it called? I don't remember. But it's just one weekend in Upstate New York, and I love it. It's really good. It reminds me a lot of David Foster Wallace. So that's really cool.

Q. If you were writing about your matches, how would you describe so far your French Open?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I would make a Greek tragedy out of it probably, or a dramady maybe. So far it's going well, so why a tragedy. Maybe something -- I don't know. A comedy more, so far.

Q. And also, in addition to the Racquet who else have you written for? And I know a German newspaper as well.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah, I'm writing for SÃ¼ddeutsche magazine. This guy here is the boss, in the front, of that.

So I'm writing a column, which appears Mondays. About -- well, it's kind of complicated to explain, actually. It's about films, more or less. I always pick one film that I talk about, and then I sort of make a connection to my life. It's makes more sense when you read it than now when you actually hear it.

But, yeah, and then Racquet, and that's it. And that's more than enough for now. But if you have a job for me, I'm always here. I need some extra cash on the side.

Q. I don't know how much there's been a talk of German tennis, the fines that Mischa Zverev got in Australia, and then Peter Gojowczyk got one here for the same thing, the fines for retiring in the first round matches. I think Mischa lost 75 percent of his prize money and Peter something similar, maybe 60.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Really? Okay.

Q. I don't know if you know about this rule where they can now punish you for playing a first round match if they determine that you should have withdrawn.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, I didn't know about Peter. I knew the --

Q. It happened last night.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Okay. Well, I knew the thing with Mischa. I was quite aware of that.

And, I mean, I feel really bad for Mischa because, as a player, I know how he just wants to give it all. And especially when you're sick, you don't really know what it's going to turn. It's different if you have, like, an injury and you know it's not going to get better overnight.

But if you're sick, it's a little different. And as a player, you really want to give it all you have and try, at least. And you never know. You know, the other guy might run into the post, break his leg, and you win, you know, so -- and then you have two more days to recover. So it's double-edged sword (smiling). But then again, it's good for -- you know, it worked here already.

They made an example in Australia, and you see so many lucky losers got in. I think it would be even better if they could find a rule so, actually, the players that are not lucky losers but the people pull out earlier before qualifying, which is obviously very tough because it's a week earlier at slams, but that would be even better.

But I think it worked already here. So I guess they are doing something right.

Q. We'll get to a double-edged sword with this, trust me. You were talking about the leading African-American of our era and, of course, there's another African-America who's important in the sport, and that's Serena. And it's interesting to me because she time and time again gets these harsh kind of comments from like Tersinov (phonetic) referring to, like, the Williams brothers.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Oh, really?

Q. Yeah, the head of Russian -- or the previous head of the Russian -- Tarpishchev.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Oh, Tarpishchev.

Q. Tarpishchev. Sorry about that.
Of course, recently, Tiriac where he said that she was fat and he wanted something else for women's tennis. And, on the other hand, she's beloved by many. So I wanted you just to comment about Serena's impact, especially in Europe, and what your thoughts are about her sort of gutsy approach to life and, of course, her coming out in the catsuit?

ANDREA PETKOVIC: I love the catsuit. I'm all for it. And I think I'm unfortunately -- not unfortunately. I'm fortunately with Adidas, so I'm not -- but I might copy her catsuit and walk with, but probably only in New York because that's, I guess, the only city where you can actually pull it off on the street.

But in terms of Serena, she's one of my big idols, so I have nothing but admiration for her. But personalities like her, they will always stir controversy, and that's just something that I think is great, because she moves people. And sometimes people have negative emotions towards her. Most people have positive emotions towards her.

And people who inspire, I think, always stir up something, and it says more about the people that comment negatively about her than it really says about her.

She's living her life to the fullest. She's a very strong, female figure, very inspirational. She's very charismatic. And all these things will always get some people at the wrong cord just because for whatever reason. Insecurity. They're afraid of strong females.

There are millions of reason that I cannot point out to you right now, because I don't know the issues of said man that made such comments.

But I think it always says more about these people that comment negatively than it says about Serena. And you will always have every person that is inspirational and stands for something more than just her sport, or her whatever they or he or she does, will stir up controversy. And I think that's just a given that you have to take.

Q. And how is she taken?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I think well. She's taken very well with me.

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