Petkovic out of Australian Open
Originally published on: 11/01/12 11:11
Andrea Petkovic has followed Venus Williams in withdrawing from the Australian Open, which starts on Monday.
The entertaining German had been seeded 10th for the event but revealed in a statement on the WTA website that she had been suffering with back problems for the last two or three months as a result of a stress fracture in her lower back.
“I’ve been struggling with it, but I’ve always believed it was going to be fine and so I pushed through the pain,” said Petkovic.
“The last two weeks in Australia I’ve been having bigger problems; I could only play for 30-45 minutes without pain.”
The 24-year-old fell to Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round at the Apia International Sydney yesterday and had to receive treatment during the match.
“After yesterday’s match against Agnieszka I decided to have an MRI and a CT and the results showed a stress fracture in my lower back,” she said. “The only thing I can do right now is rest – not walking or sitting a lot – just lying down and hoping that the bone will heal as fast as possible.
“The doctors have said it will likely take me six to eight weeks to recover. I’m positive this is going to be fine, I just need to take the time off to get better. With this type of injury I’d rather take an additional week off than start back a day early. I need to be patient.”
Petkovic reached her first Grand Slam quarter-final at last year’s event in Melbourne, but prior to that didn’t have the best memories of competing in Australia, suffering a career-threatening cruciate ligament rupture two minutes into her first round match with Anna Chakvetadze in 2008.
“I’m really disappointed because I love Australia,” said Petkovic. “It’s funny, I actually tore my ACL here, but on the other hand I also made my first ever Grand Slam quarterfinal here so either it’s a big high or a big low! I am so sorry that I won’t be seeing my fans in Melbourne, because I love the Australians and feel like we have a great connection.
“I’m going to head back to Germany tonight because I want to have some more tests with my doctors and be close to my family. I’m already looking forward to coming back to Australia next year.”
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