STUTTGART – Germany’s Andrea Petkovic says she wants to show the form that saw her reach January’s Australian Open quarter-finals when the WTA tournament starts in Stuttgart on Monday. The 23-year-old is enjoying a career-high ranking of 19th in the world and reached the last four of last month’s WTA tournament in Miami by knocking out world number one Caroline Wozniacki in the process. Petkovic has become the darling of the tennis media here — starved of a top name since Steffi Graf retired in 1999 — and the Bosnian-born talent from Darmstadt is eager to shine in front of her fans in Stuttgart.
“The situation is new to me. I’ll be at the centre of attention and I want to show I can play well in these conditions,” said Petkovic. “I do not set myself performance targets, I just want to play well.” She has already shown her form in Stuttgart at the weekend by leading Germany’s 5-0 white-washing of last year’s finalists the United States in the Fed Cup, which put Germany back into the World Group. Petkovic is the ninth seed in Stuttgart, with Wozniacki leading a field that also includes last year’s finalist, Samantha Stosur.
Australian Open finalist Li Na of China, former winner Jelena Jankovic and world number three Vera Zvonareva make up a strong field featuring eight of the top ten players. Defending champion Justine Henin is missing, having retired from tennis for a second time in January.
New talent Petkovic aims to shine in Stuttgart
