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SONY ERICSSON OPEN

March 29, 2011

Andrea Petkovic

MIAMI, FLORIDA

A. PETKOVIC/J. Jankovic
2-6, 6-2, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. How did you get through that last game?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: That's a very good question.
You should ask me how did I get through this ninth game of the third set. That was the key moment for me. I think I had three or four break points against me, and I knew that I have to play aggressively if I want to win this match.
I think being down and going forward and trying to finish the point at the net just gave me the confidence and the boost that I needed for the last game. And then when I had my chances, Jelena all of a sudden served big.
But that's what big champions are about, playing on the best on the decisive points. And, yeah, I'm really happy (Smiling.)

Q. Who are you?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: (Laughter.)

Q. Do you feel like you can beat anyone at this point? You take out a No. 1, you take out a former No. 1, and you did you it in championship style. Confidence?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I'm confident, you know, but I've just always believed in myself. I always believed that I can beat those top players. It was always just a matter of time. I started a little later maybe than the other girls, so that's why I'm quite old for a female tennis player, maybe.
But I always believed in myself, and I just needed -- as I said, I needed the time and the experience and the consistency. I was able to play well on key moments, but I wasn't able to keep up the good performance throughout the two-week tournament.
I think now a lot of things are clicking, coming into position, but I'm still at the beginning. I still have so much more to learn and so much more to improve, which is good, I guess.
I hope I will.

Q. Was the rain delay helpful for you? Because you had a really slow start.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Definitely, definitely. I started off very slow, as you said, especially on my feet were not moving well. I was always one step late, I had the feeling.
I also had the feeling that Jelena was playing really, really great in the beginning and she didn't really give me the chance to play my best.
So I think the rain delay slowed her down a little bit and gave me also the moments and the time to calm down a little bit, because I was also getting emotional and frustrated with myself.
Well, that's the worst emotional thing that you can get when you're in a match. So it was really helpful for me to calm down and then being able to step it up later on.

Q. You put a lot of emphasis on your game plan yesterday. Today did you have a plan going in?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I did have a plan going in, but it was actually quite similar to the one last -- yesterday, actually. But, you know, as I said, the problem was - or not the problem - but the thing was that Jelena started off playing so well that I didn't really get to play my game plan, and I was struggling and I was insecure in the beginning.
So there was a phase in the match in the beginning of the second set where I was running and trying to push the ball back and trying to get into the match and get into the rhythm. Then afterwards, I was again able to wait for my chance and go for it when it was the most important.

Q. Did you discuss a new strategy as a result with your coach during the rain delay?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, no, you just -- he actually just told me to remain calm, that she was playing really great, and if she plays a whole match like this, then you can just say, Okay, very well played.
So that calmed me down a little bit, because I felt like, okay, I'm playing bad, but I didn't really acknowledge the fact that she was playing great. That really calmed me down to know that, Okay, if she really plays that well I'm just going to shake her hand and say, Hey, well played today.
That calmed me down in the end, I think.

Q. Do you sense that there is a lot of opportunity on the WTA side these days? You have a No. 1 who has not won a Grand Slam event; you have a couple of champions struggling, like Maria Sharapova. Is there kind of an open field for some of you other girls who might want to take initiative and go forward?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, you can see it that way, and you can see there are a lot of girls coming up. I like to call it the new generation, you know. There are so many new girls out there who are coming up and who really have I a big game. I'm thinking of Petra Kvitova and some other girls.
So it's really like a change of generations right now, also with the Williams sisters struggling right now. So I definitely feel like there are some of us who have the opportunity now breaking through, this year, especially.
But I also have the feeling that the field is much, much closer together, that any week something new can happen. I find it quite exciting, I have to say.

Q. There was also a change of style, you think, and we had a generation that was sort of quite defensive. You mentioned Kvitova, yourself, attacking players.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I don't know. Maybe it's a coincidence. Maybe I also play this way. I know Petra for a while. She always play this way she's playing.
So, yeah, but I think what we all have in common is that just the general fitness level is just raised so much. That's why you have to be - even for an aggressive player like me or Petra who are going for their shots - we have to be able to play them 10 or 12 times in a rally. That's just a big difference to earlier times, maybe.

Q. Are you ready to beat another former No. 1, if Sharapova wins?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, physically I'm, I think, one of the most prepared girls in the tour. My coach actually said to me when he came on the changeover, I said, Man, I'm dying. He said, Okay, imagine you are dying, how is she filing? I was like, Okay, she's dead already.
So that was really -- physically I'm very well prepared, but definitely I have two really tough matches now mentally also - and I play doubles today because I'm a doubles specialist - so it's definitely gonna be tough to recover.
But I have my physio with me and I have a very good coach who's gonna bring me all the food I need. I'm going to go to a steakhouse, eat eight steaks, and I'm gonna be fine.

Q. Do you have a game plan against Maria?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: If she wins next, I played Maria in Australia and I had a game plan in this match and I beat her. But, you know, Maria is the type of player she also goes for her shots. When she has a good day, it's tough to push your game plan through.
But I'm definitely gonna try. That's what I'm gonna do, and do anything to beat her. That's all I can do.

Q. Speaking of doubles, are you watching your partner's progress here?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I am, and I think it's because of our doubles. No, I really feel like we gained a lot of confidence in doubles. Actually, in the ninth game of the third set I think I put away three or four very important volleys, and I give credit to Ana and our doubles for that, because I really gained some confidence.
I think she feels the same way. And it relaxes you. I like it much more to play doubles with a friend, with a good friend, instead of practicing with your coach who bores me after a while. (Laughter.)
So that's just -- yeah.

Q. When you say you always believed in yourself, how precise was the belief? You believed you could reach the top? You had a specific goal or just believed you could make it on the tour?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, first of all, I just believed that I could beat the top players. But, you know, it's not easy, but it's easier to play well a week. Now my goal is to keep up the consistency and play each tournament that I play on a high level.
That's what make you a top 10 player. Now playing well one week is not making me a top 10 player. There is still a long way for me to go. But I always believed in the fact that I have the game and the that I have the weapons to beat the top players.
It's just for me a matter of time, a matter of hard work, and a matter of experience to also keep up the consistency and play well each and every tournament. That's what the best do. I'm not that far I think yet.

Q. Who was the most difficult to beat her? Wozniacki or Jankovic?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, for me it was -- that's a tough one. That's a very tough one. I will answer it to you tomorrow, I think.
I felt it tougher to get back into the match today because I started off playing bad. Yesterday I played okay throughout the whole match, so this was tougher for me today to come back after the rain delay and trying to step up the game after a really slow game.

Q. Are you ready to win this tournament?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, as I said, I believe in myself. But unfortunately in tennis, it's not only about you. There are also other players who have a word to say.
But that's at least a step, the first step to believe in yourself and believe that you can win. I mean, I took out the world No. 1 and I took out the former world No. 1, so I think there is nothing that stands in the way. Just two more girls stand in the way. (Laughter.)

Q. When you talk about your fitness, how much time do you put into your fitness as opposed to your on-court stroke work and details, technical...
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Um, almost as much as on the on-court in the offseason. Now, in the season, I definitely play more tennis than I do off-court stuff. But in the off-season I was -- before my tennis practice I was working out two hours in the gym, and after every second tennis practice I did runnings. That's what I did for six weeks. So I think I feel quite well now after I survived it.

Q. What kind of running? Distance or...
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I'm doing like intervals, so I start -- in the beginning I started with 30 seconds, 30 seconds, 30 seconds running 85% of my speed, because this is the toughest part actually in tennis to work on your endurance without getting slow. That's the toughest thing I think in tennis.
So in the beginning I started with 30/30, and the closer it gets to the tennis I start to do it as related as possible to the rallies. So 15 seconds, 15 seconds for my type of game is maybe the -- I think Karlovic does 2 seconds, 2 seconds. (Laughter.)
But for my type of game, probably 15/15 is the most related to my type of game, and that's what I do.

Q. For those that are getting to know you, can you talk a little bit more about your celebration dance at the end?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, yesterday you weren't there. You was there? I said it's officially over after this tournament, so I'm really fighting hard for each match so that I can celebrate it a few more times.
And, yeah, it's just a moment of happiness for me, and I think the fans enjoy it especially here in Miami. Other fans maybe don't enjoy it as much. You know, there are always people who like it and who don't like it.
It's just a moment of happiness, and it was a spontaneous reaction, but everything comes to an end. This is the last tournament for the Petko Dance.

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