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Tennis professional Andrea Petkovic announces the end of her career

Dhe fans of Andrea Petkovic had suspected it for a week. The tennis player had provided an unspectacular training video on Instagram with the hashtag “#thelastdance” – a clear allusion to the legendary “Petko-Dance”, with which she often celebrated her successes. And since Sunday the whole tennis world has known: Petkovic’s last dance is imminent.

The US Open is generally “my last tournament,” said the 34-year-old in an interview with the ARD “Sportschau” immediately before her opening game on Tuesday. Then Petkovic will probably leave the big tennis stage after 16 eventful years on the tour, because anything but a defeat against the Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic would be a big surprise.

But the Darmstadt resident leaves a back door open: after the US Open, she may have “a tournament in Europe” that “is a bit closer to my family and friends”. But maybe “it’s already over in New York”. The announcement of her resignation is not really surprising, Petkovic actually wanted to put the racket in the corner as early as 2020. After that she only thought from year to year. “Let’s see how long the old horse can hold out,” said the former world number ninth, self-ironic.

There is no fear that the seven-time WTA tournament winner will fall into the much-quoted hole after the end of her active career. Petkovic, who is considered cosmopolitan, educated and ambitious, has successfully tried out many professional fields in recent years. Since December 2019, the 2014 French Open semi-finalist has been part of the ZDF team of sports presenters. She has written columns for the Süddeutsche Zeitung magazine and for the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sunday newspaper.

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