Andrea Petkovic made an impressive return to the WTA tour winning her first round match in straight sets and in the process set up a mouthwatering round two clash against Victoria Azarenka.
Now ranked number 12, Petkovic entered the Australian Open as the No.10 player in the world. A stress fracture in her lower back however, forced her to withdraw from the Australian Open and five tournaments following it.
A fearless Petkovic decided to make her return in the star-studded Porche Tennis Grand Prix and once again reiterated her desire to play at the top level. "It has always been my goal to compete at the top level," Petkovic continued, "I always told myself, if you're not good enough to compete with the best, don't play tennis at all. So when I was planning on coming back I was conscious of coming back here, where all the Top 8 are playing, and I'm not seeded so I could play any of them in the first round. I believe to throw somebody into the cold water is better than dipping and seeing how cold it might get."
Petkovic made a solid start to the event beating fellow German Kristina Barrois in the first round 6-1,6-4. "I'm actually surprised it went so well today," Petkovic said. "It was a tough challenge playing Stosur in Fed Cup on the weekend, playing the No.5 player in the world right after three and a half months off. I was in my rhythm tonight and played quite solid. I was very stable emotionally and mentally out there."
The German must now shift gears as she faces off with World No.1 Victoria Azarenka in round 2. Their only previous meeting was won by Azarenka which was back in 2010.
"I didn't watch a lot of tennis while I was out but I saw her winning streak and rise to No.1," Petkovic said. "I really think she's the best right now. She deserves to be No.1, and as a character and personality she's a proper No.1. It's a tough challenge, but as I said, this is why I play tennis."
Other seeded players like, World No.5 Sam Stosur, No.7 - Marion Bartoli and No.8 - Li Na also won their respective ties.