IN MELBOURNE
A GIRL is making news in tennis, but not for what she wins but what she reads. Germany's Andrea Petkovic is intriguing because she devours Goethe, admires Che Guevera, speaks four languages, is studying for a political science degree and writes a column for a conservative newspaper back home. She is also only 22 and hits a pretty neat forehand as well. Did I mention she wants to start a political party eventually?
Yesterday, Petkovic, who was born in Bosnia, lost, but it hardly mattered. A few journalists tired of monosyllable answers and tired cliches, flocked to her. So did I. She did not disappoint. She shook everyone's hand, answered every question, and spoke not just about forehands but Dostoevsky, politics and intelligence. It was delightful.
It is believed, without adequate proof, that the best athletes are not deep thinkers, but simply obey instinct. But Petkovic was not so sure. "I think Roger Federer is very intelligent, and every time you think he can't get any better, he comes back and improves a bit more. It's because he reflects what he did wrong, he knows what he did wrong and how to improve it. If you really want to be a great player -- long term -- then I think you have to be quite intelligent."
Every question to her got an interesting answer. In a way, this was sport taken to different level. Asked if being intelligent (and being involved in so many things) somehow made losing easier, she saw both sides. "Usually when I lose, it's just as disappointing as for anybody else. But in the long term, I think it makes it much easier. In 2007, I tore my ACL here and was out for eight months. Everybody else would fall into depression. I was fine because I had tons of other stuff to do."
Petkovic's father is a tennis coach but didn't want her to play tennis. But she chose it because she gets something from it. When I asked her what, she replied: "I like the emotion in tennis." What she meant was that tennis was an outlet, every match allowed her to feel happiness, anger, disappointment. Real-life jobs rarely afford such opportunities.
Furthermore, she said: "You have to be very strong in the tennis world to survive and get further. Tennis was not my first choice. But I think in the academic world it would have been much easier for me -- maybe too easy -- so I really like the challenges, to prove myself in things that are not so easy for me. I will be stronger for everything else that comes in life than if I had just gone the normal academic way."
When she loses matches, Petkovic's response is unusual. "I usually go back to read. When I read I really have to focus because it's study, and it takes my mind off the loss. I cannot sleep very well, so I do it for long in the night. When you watch TV or go shopping, you think, 'Why did I play this way or that way?' I read, then maybe one or two days later I can think about the match and improve. Matches you lose are sometimes better for improvement."
As she answered, journalists just looked at her. A bit astonished. The philosophical warrior is not something we usually encounter. Where Petkovic will go in tennis we can't say, but tennis is better for her lively presence.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic, 22, charmed journalists with her intelligence.
-- ST PHOTO: AP