WATCH: “One of the nicest humans on tour” Andrea Petkovic tears up as she gets an emotional farewell from the crowd at the US Open

WATCH: “One of the nicest humans on tour” Andrea Petkovic tears up as she gets an emotional farewell from the crowd at the US Open

Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic after their first round US Open match

The German star, Andrea Petkovic suffered a first-round defeat to Belinda Bencic at the US Open. Bencic defeated Petkovic, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 to secure a place in the second round. This match was special for Petkovic as this marked her retirement from professional tennis. From her passing shots to the “Petko Dance”, Petkovic has long been a fan favourite, here at the US Open.

After the match, the two players embraced in tears while Petkovic was applauded by a small crowd that fit court 7 at the US Open. Andrea Petkovic graced the WTA top 10 rankings when she became a No. 9 seed in 2011. Later, Bencic commented on their long hug. She said, “I felt like for sure she felt a relief, maybe sadness, I’m not sure. In this moment I just tried to make it nice for her.”

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I brought everything to the game: Andrea Petkovic contemplates the last match of her career

Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic

After the match, Petkovic was emotional but reflected back on her career comprehensively. She said, “I did feel this year also for the first time that my narrative has been told and is not relevant anymore in a way, that the new generation is taking over. I think I brought everything to the game that I had to give.”

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“I think for me I still love the game, Still have a tremendous amount of passion for the game. It’s more the body that is not allowing me to play tennis anymore in a way that I want to play it, train the way I want to train. It was fitting for me that I lost to a very young player,” said Petkovic.

On her other interests, Petkovic added, “I do like to read and I do like to intellectualize things sometimes. But when it comes down to what life is about, it’s about emotions and connecting to other people. That’s something I always found on the WTA Tour with my colleagues and with my other just female counterparts that were doing this really hard thing with me.”

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