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ROLAND GARROSJune 4, 2014Andrea PetkovicPARIS, FRANCE A. PETKOVIC/S. Errani THE MODERATOR: Questions in English, please. Q. Must be a great satisfaction. What was going through your mind when you were down 2‑0 at the beginning? Were you worried or tense or what? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah, well, I had a very good game plan from my coach. It didn't work in the beginning, so I was getting a little ‑‑not panicked, but, you know, when you have a certain game plan and you lose the first two games and it's not working, so I was kind of getting a little worried. But, you know, I trust my coach a great deal, so I told myself, Stick with it for this set. If it doesn't work out, you can still change something. If it works out, then keep going. So I was lucky that I started playing better and that I was putting more balls into play. And then also the game plan started working out better. Q. Her serve was helping you quite a bit. Her serve was very weak today, more than usual. Do you think that? And you were always attacking since the beginning. ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah, well, I played her in Madrid for a couple of weeks ago, and I wasn't attacking the serve as much as I could. I was being aggressive, but not as aggressive as I could. So definitely one of the parts today was being very aggressive on her serve and trying to maybe get into the net and just make pressure visually on her. So I was hoping that her serve might break down if I'm being very, very aggressive. So that was one part of the game plan, and it worked out. I was happy, yeah. Q. At the end, trying to close out that match, and as it looked like, you know, scoreboard‑wise, you were in a really good position to win, what was going through your head? What were the nerves? What was that experience like? ANDREA PETKOVIC: I was actually okay. I sat down. I have to say today I was in a real zone. I didn't think at all. I was just focused on what I had to do. Mentally I was really good. When it was 6‑2, 5‑2 I sat down and I said to myself, Okay, Andrea, are you going to get tight now? And I paused and I said, No, not now. The thing what I did in the past matches was when I was getting nervous I was just going for even more and it worked out, because I was just making my hands faster and then there was more rotation on the ball and it went higher over the net. So that was the only thing I was occupied with in my head. But I was really in a zone today. So I couldn't really think about anything else. Q. What's your feeling after the match point when her ball goes out? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, when I saw it, it was high. The thing was the wind was coming exactly from that side. So the wind could have actually brought it still in. I saw the ball, and it was so slow. I just prayed to God that it went out, because I didn't want to smash that ball. It was super difficult and very deep, also. Actually, I thought about, Should I take it as a drive volley or should I smash it? I was just praying that it went out. I was like, Please, please, please, please, please. When it went out I was super relieved and super happy. Just, yeah, a lot of emotions. Q. You talked about your coach. That's Eric. Can you tell us what you worked on for the past few months and what it's like? ANDREA PETKOVIC: I'm still not at the end. There are still a lot of things I need to learn from him. He has a lot of experience and a lot of ideas about my game. We have been working for three months, so there were a lot of things that I wasn't able yet to learn and to sort of bring into my game. But one thing that we worked on was technically just getting my strokes a little safer and higher above the net and not as flat anymore. Because my thing was when I was playing well everything was fine, but once my footwork was off I was missing a lot of shots and giving a lot of easy mistakes. That's one thing we were working on. Also my serve. But that's still a work in process. My serve is not there where it's gonna be hopefully in a couple of months or even in a year, because it takes a lot of work. I was serving very awkwardly before. Now I'm trying to get a more fluent motion. It's still a work in process. There are matches like today when a lot of things come together, but there are also matches when some things fall apart. So it's a work in process. Q. To your credit, you're so open, so emotional. When you had all your setbacks, what was the worst moment, the worst time when you had the greatest doubt? Likewise, now that you have had this incredible achievement, what could you say to yourself? What is your feeling? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, I think the worst moment for me was not when I was injured, because at that time you are injured. You're full of hope. I'm an optimistic person, so I figured everything would be good just as soon as I step back on court and everything will be fine and I will feel happy again and I will be satisfied with myself. That was not the case, because once I stepped back on court, the thing that made me unhappiest was the fact that I wasn't playing as well as I did. My footwork was off. My strokes were worse. My serve was awful. So that was the worst moment for me, just not being the tennis player that I used to be. I just couldn't accept that in the beginning. So that was, for me, the toughest part coming back from the injuries. And now obviously the title in Charleston was a relieving moment for me. Just, you know, I hadn't won a premier title before my injury, so that was just ‑‑that gave me so much more relaxation mentally and physically, because I wasn't as rushed as before. When I lost a few matches early, I wasn't as stressed and as panicked anymore, because I figured I won the tournament in Charleston. Everything will be fine. So just keep going. I think that was the nicest moment for me happiness‑wise, but also just to keep me calmer mentally. Q. You said after your previous match that you lost your love for tennis last year and considered other careers, such as journalism. You have written for various media. How would you write about your comeback from the injuries and your performance here? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Oh, gosh. That's a very good question. I really don't know, because I am in my shoes, as well. So I would try to keep it as low key as possible, because I know that I get very excited about stuff. But then the pressure comes hand in hand with this excitement. When I play really well, the thing with my injuries was that it now has a nail of doubt every time when I play well. I'm just so scared that it might slip away again. Because I was the happiest when I was in the top 10 and was one of the top players, and then it was just taken away from me. So now every time I have happy moments and nice wins, it immediately brings the doubt and the fear of that it might slip away again. So it's always‑‑ you know, it's a difficult thing for me being all the way positive again and just trusting that everything will be fine, because I learned it the other way. I'm very cautious with wins and with happy moments and trying just to stay with both feet on the ground and enjoy the moments when they are there. Q. You had some tough matches. Last three against players ranked much lower than Errani. Are you at all surprised that you were able to come out and win 6‑2, 6‑2 over a top player like that? Or did you sort of feel it coming together even though the matches might not have shown it? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, the thing about the matches before were also the players didn't have anything to lose anything against me. Especially I think KiKi Bertens played an incredible match in the first set. It's tough when the media and everybody writes that she beat somebody ranked 148. The people read it and they're like, Oh, yeah, I could do that. But if you're in the match and the other one has nothing to lose ‑‑ and KiKi is an amazing player; I think she's going to come to the top of the women's tennis if she keeps working on some things. So it's a whole different story when you end the match. So the thing what gave me a lot of confidence was just that I was able to step up my game when I needed to. I didn't play well the past games, that's definitely for sure, but I played better and I played good and I played my best tennis when I needed to play it. I think that gave me a lot of confidence. And then today when I was down I was just able to still stay aggressive and believe in my shots. Q. You seem more relaxed today than a few years ago. ANDREA PETKOVIC: Oh, yeah? Q. You mentioned the other day Nietzsche, Camus, and other philosophers. How would Freud, for instance, analyze that? Do you think it has anything to do with you stopping the Petko dance? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Well, I would like to call Freud and ask him what he thinks about me and my twisted soul. But actually, you know, I just think I have grown. It's been four years, five years when I was here ‑‑ three years. I can't count. I was never good in mathematics. But I have grown as a person and I have changed a lot of things and I have matured and I went through experiences in life that were not always nice but that were necessary for me to grow as a person. As I said, I'm more mature now. There are still tons of things that I haven't learned and I haven't been through, but I'm on a good way. I'm trying to learn each day and trying to evolve my personality. That's all can I do. That's why I think I might be more relaxed than I was four years ago when I was still young and sort of just caught up in everything in this tennis world. Q. You didn't do any more the Petko dance, even if everybody always hopes that you do it because it's fun, but are you superstitious? Because we saw you kissing your racquet. I'd like to know if when you kiss your racquet you want next match to start with the same racquet or you don't think about it or it will be different if it was the racquet winning a Grand Slam? ANDREA PETKOVIC: Actually, I never kissed my racquet before in my life. I don't know what happened to me. I was just overwhelmed by emotion. I had no boy to kiss, so I kissed my racquet, right? (Laughter.) Yeah. I don't know. According to the Petko dance, I said it in a previous press conference, I just didn't feel like doing it anymore. It started off as something spontaneous and fun. It wasn't spontaneous anymore, and that's why I stopped it. Also, it was a thing when I was young and when I was kind of more careless, also. Now I'm a different ‑‑not a different person, but an evolved person. I'm not doing that anymore. I'm sorry. Q. In Charleston, you're you were hopping on a plane to go to Fed Cup, and you said that that trip to Australia might derail your entire clay court season. For a while it looked like that might be the case; not great results coming up into here. So did you think that this was possible before the tournament started? ANDREA PETKOVIC: I didn't. I mean, no. I would lie if I said I did. I felt like after Australia I was so drained emotionally, because I think after Charleston I sort of kept my emotions aside because I knew I had to go to Fed Cup. When that was over, I just sort of let everything go. I had this huge letdown. Just emotionally I was drained, and physically I had a lot of problems adapting to the new time zone and changing so many times in such a short period of time. It took a toll on my body. I started playing better in Madrid, but then I had a tough first round against Sara actually, and she played very well. I felt better in Rome, and then I had another tough round in the second match against Serena and she killed me. I felt like I was getting there and getting better and physically and mentally feeling better, but then I had a tough draw. So I never felt I'd be here in the semis, and that is what makes me really happy. Also, yeah, just gives me confidence that everything comes back if you sort of stay patient and don't lose your head, what would have happened I guess two or three years ago if I would have lost as many early matches as I did in the clay court season after Charleston. Q. The amount of press that tennis players have to do after a match, talking to so many different people, often being asked the same question over and over again, how difficult is that? Do you sometimes think tennis players have to do so much more than other sports stars? ANDREA PETKOVIC: I don't know, because I'm not another sports star. I don't know how much the others have to do. You know, obviously it takes some energy, especially for somebody like me who talks a lot and who can't really stop when maybe I should be stopping. So it can take a lot of energy. But then again, we are also promoting our sport. I think it's a beautiful sport. I just think it gave so much to me and my family and my personality, and I wouldn't be the person that I am if I wasn't playing tennis. I just think a lot of other young people can profit from playing tennis and from ‑‑ just not only in individual sports, but just being inspired maybe by a few tennis stars. So it takes a lot of energy, as I said, and sometimes it can be very tiring. But then again, when I see the outcome and little children being inspired by us, I think it's okay. I think it's a fair amount. Q. In the deeper of yourself, do you really think it's a surprise to see you this level of the tournament, or you believe is the level you have to have, this is your place? ANDREA PETKOVIC: I'm not sure if I understood the question right, but are you asking me if I deserve to be in the semifinals? Okay. Good. That's nice (Laughter). I hope you are not insinuating anything. Q. If you, inside yourself, think finally you arrive where you deserve to be. ANDREA PETKOVIC: Yeah. Well, you know, some people might say I had a really good draw. And I did have a fine draw. But then again, second player of the world lost to a player that I beat afterwards. You know, I had tough matches, and I'm not coming from nowhere to the semifinals. I was in three quarters before and I won Charleston. I won two other tournaments. I played a lot of big semis and finals and quarterfinals of other tournaments. I don't think I'm coming from nowhere. It's not super surprising, yet it's still a very special moment for me because I haven't been in the semis before. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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