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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN

August 20, 2011

Andrea Petkovic

CINCINNATI, OHIO

J. JANKOVIC/A. Petkovic
6-7, 6-1

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Talk about the tear in your meniscus and the decision making about deciding whether to play or not?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, when I talked to you yesterday, I was still -- I had my cool-down and my stretching and I was still sort of warm and my muscles were still going so I didn't feel a lot of pain.
Once I got back to the hotel, my knee started swelling up and I had massage. So said, Okay, I put some ice, I put some electricity, and I took a rest.
When I woke up, my knee was really swollen and I couldn't walk at all anymore. So I started crying for one hour at first because I thought it's my ACL again. The thing was, last time I tore my ACL I had the swelling immediately.
So I still had some hope somewhere in the back of my mind that it's not that. But it was the same feeling when I was walking, the same pain, and everything was exactly the same. So I was really scared.
Once I got to the doctor, he did the tests that you do when you have ACL, and what I found out later, my ACL is not -- the restructured ACL is not vertical but a little bit like this. That's why the test does not work. They did it to me ten times once I tore my ACL back three years ago, so I knew immediately when he did it that it's not right, it doesn't feel right.
So I cried for like three or four hours, because I was absolutely sure that my ACL was torn. I went to the MRI. I took like one hour and they sent the pictures to radiologist and to another radiologist.
So finally they saw the restructured ACL is not vertical and this, and that's why the test did not work. I have a tear in the inner meniscus.
So I felt reborn again and I wanted to play. I hit for an hour before the match and it was fine. I tried to hide the taping, but it was a little tough because it was like two meters thick. (Laughter.)
Yeah, I felt fine. I mean, I didn't feel too stable, but it was okay. I played fine. I felt okay. I played well the first set. I should have won maybe the first set, but Jelena played a great match, so I think it was okay.
I hope I'll be ready for the US Open.

Q. How difficult was it mentally to kind of get over the fear about the knee even knowing that it was a tear, stepping back on court and kind of knowing what it could and couldn't take?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: It was definitely more the mental thing. I was really freaked out all day. You know, I normally cry like once in 20 years, and so today I took all my crying for the next 20 years.
I think I was really mentally and emotionally really drained after the day today.

Q. What did your coach tell you at the end of the first set? Such a tough lost in the first set. To get yourself ready for the second set, what did he say?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: He said to me that I should try to keep the points shorter, because he saw that obviously my running into the forehand wasn't the best, and especially coming out of the corner. So he told me to try to keep the points shorter and try to step in for the spin volleys when she tries to loop it, and be more aggressive.
Because normally I really -- return is one of my best shots, and today I didn't really -- Jelena was serving really well, but also I didn't really return aggressively today.
So that's what he basically said, to try to step in and return more aggressively. Yeah, that's what I tried to do.

Q. When you have to get so taped up on your leg, as you said, you had plenty of tape on there, when you're putting it on, is there any part of you thinking, What am I doing here? Maybe I ought to withdraw and rest up for the Open.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Actually, I thought about it. Once I knew it wasn't the ACL I knew I was going to play. That was 100%, even when they did the taping and everything. The audience come and want to see two semifinals and they pay a lot money.
I talked to the doctor, and he said, Listen, with the tape it's not going to get worse. I'm not the type of person to just withdraw and leave the audience out there. It kind of sucks.
You know, when you go I go to concerts and the band comes two hours late and plays for 45 minutes and then they leave, then I'm really, really pissed. I just tried to put myself in their position.
The moment that I knew I'm probably going to be fine for the US Open I knew I'm going to play. And I would rather die than retire, so the decision was quite easy for me.
The only thing the ACL, if it was the ACL I would have withdrawn. But that's the only thing.

Q. Talk about the problems you had with your serve in the second set. You got broken three times. What happened?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I lost a little bit of rhythm on my serve. In the first set I had a quite high percentage of my first serve and I was placing it quite well.
I obviously tried to serve more to her forehand, and I think once she got used to it and started returning to my feet, I started changing it up, which broke my rhythm. Then in the second set, my percentage just dropped and so she went for my second serves.
I think after such a close set, it's not necessarily that you have to changes something, maybe it's just two or three points that make the difference. In my head it was like, okay, she's returning deep to my feet. I have to change something, which destroyed any rhythm on the serve.
I think my mental status after losing such a tough set shouldn't be, oh, change your whole game, but just try to be more focused on the important key moments.

Q. At 1-4, there were some dancing guys on the screen. You came out and were smiling. That's pretty atypical. Does that come easily? Do you have to force yourself to enjoy out there?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: The first set I really enjoyed because I think it was some pretty good tennis. When I see something funny, I still laugh I think even if it's a really bad situation. So even when I drove -- because my coach, he cannot park, you know, so even when there is like ten parking spaces, he's like, Where should I go? Where should I go? Where should I go? And he gets nervous and really tight.
So even when we were driving up to the MRI - and I think they only opened up the place for me because there was nobody and 200 parking places - he drove up and I was crying and I still had to make the joke, Where should you park? Where should you park?
So that's something that's just in my nature. I hope that stays. Maybe when I get old I'll get grumpy. I'm still young.

Q. You talk about your ACL being a different way than it should be. Do you need to have that corrected at some point?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: No, I think it's fine because I feel stable. I feel really totally fine. Obviously I build up a lot muscles around it. So my legs are strong and they can hold everything.
Just this test they do, it just doesn't work, and it scared the hell out of me in the first moment because I thought really, okay, the ACL is gone. The problem is this movie in your mind that just starts to go. Okay, eight months again rehab.
I really was not sure if I'm going to do it again. I'm not sure, because it was really tough going back playing challengers and fighting through all that again. I'm not sure if I would have done it.
It was basically, okay, is this over or, you know.

Q. Was there any disagreement on your team about whether or not you should pull out? Obviously you had the final vote. Talk about the discussions you had.
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, my team was basically on my side. They supported me in playing. The problem were my parents. They called like 700 times. They called the WTA, they called the doctors of the WTA, they called the physios, which is quite embarrassing. They called everybody and really didn't want me to play. Obviously they had to go through much more when I was injured than myself.
People who are parents probably can understand them. So that was the biggest fight. Actually I didn't call them until -- I didn't know what was happening, so they thought I was lying to them when I told them nothing serious. It's just the meniscus, a little tear. They thought I was lying and just want to calm them down.
So this was the biggest fight, my parents calling my coach ten hundred times and trying to shut down the whole tournament. But otherwise it's fine.

Q. Same question I asked you in June. Things have changed. If you were writing a story going into the US Open, what would be the storylines?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, I would still stay with my statement that I had back then. I still think -- and now with Serena coming back, even better -- I still think it's a nice story, you know, these new girls, up-and-coming girls, these young girls like Azarenka, Kvitova being able to win a Grand Slam, and Kvitova showed it.
But still, at the same time, Clijsters, Williams and all these old girls are still there and of course also wanting to win the Grand Slam. So I think that's it's a nice clash of generations, and my title would still be, Clash of Generations.

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