Former tennis star Andrea Petković recently shared insights into her retirement, humorously remarking on its timing as “stupidly”-timed. After a career spanning more than a decade and a half, Petkovic bid farewell to the sport at the 2022 US Open, coincidentally alongside Serena Williams, who also retired from the tour.
Given that it was Williams’ final tournament, her exit naturally garnered significant attention, overshadowing Petkovic’s retirement.
In a column penned on Substack, Petkovic contemplated her career trajectory, describing it as hovering somewhere between good and great. The German player confessed to harboring ambitions of attaining the top ranking and winning Grand Slam titles, aspirations that eluded her throughout her career.
“Every tennis player venturing onto the tour, displaying early promise, shares one singular goal: to become the best in the world. I always found questions about my season goals from journalists irksome because deep down, my desires were crystal clear.
I yearned to clinch Grand Slam titles and ascend to the summit of world rankings! Like all of us,” Petkovic reflected candidly. “I never reached these pinnacle achievements in tennis. While it hasn’t embittered or disheartened me, there have been moments of reflection, questioning whether I gave it my absolute all.”
In a lighthearted vein, Petkovic quipped that she might have moved on more swiftly had her retirement been better timed, which unfortunately wasn’t the case.
Recalling the circumstances of her farewell alongside Serena Williams, Petkovic humorously juxtaposed the grandeur of Williams’ send-off with her own more subdued exit.
“Perhaps I could have transitioned more seamlessly had I not impulsively chosen to retire simultaneously with Serena Williams, the unparalleled female tennis titan.
Our retirement announcements coincided at the US Open, yet while Queen Latifah regally narrated Serena’s grand entrance into Arthur Ashe Stadium amidst a spectacle of advertisements adorned with her image, with a Broadway rendition of the national anthem echoing, the stadium bathed in radiant lights as the sun set over the New York skyline, I found myself gasping for air on court 7,” Petkovic reminisced with a touch of irony.
“Struggling to endure one more match before it all concluded. Before it was definitively over. The stress, the pressure, the doubts, the aspirations, the fervent desire, the optimism, the crushing disappointments – all abruptly extinguished.”
Petkovic’s farewell at the US Open was brief, as she succumbed to Belinda Bencic in the opening round. Meanwhile, Serena Williams progressed to the third round before bowing out to Ajla Tomljanovic.
