Tuesday, April 5, 2011 at 7:51PM 
Call her what you will, JJ, Drama Queen, Tennis Diva, Glitter Girl..... I have to admit, I liked her. Maybe it's because she seemed really happy when I asked a question about something she said in her blog from Miami, (she yelled, "you read my blog!!!") or maybe it's because we both looked at each other crossed-eyed when someone from the media asked her this question:
Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 5:45PM 
Today marks the end of Andrea Petkovic's Cinderella run at the Sony Ericsson Open. I call it a Cinderella run, not because she was a complete unknown and just coming into her own, but rather because she was finally introduced to the masses as the funny, entertaining, and smart girl that she has always been. After making it to the semi-finals, she will break into the top 20 for the first time, but unfortunately, when a new road begins another ends, and we must now say goodbye to the Petko Dance.
It started off as a bet with her coach at the US Open. She had not been playing well prior to the tournament, so he said that if she won her first round match against Nadia Petrova she would, "have to do something special." And this is what she did:
Since then, it has been become a bit of a craze, with fans requesting it after every win, "I wanted to get rid of it after the US Open, but the fans just ‑‑ they said like, Hey, we are just coming to see the dance and you're not doing it anymore."
Andrea has been preparing us all week that this was the last tournament she would do the dance. In her presser after defeating Caroline Wozniacki she said, "I tried to do it as much as I can here in the tournament, because then it's gone. I'm a little sad, but it was ‑‑ it was a nice phase and it was nice fun, but now I'm getting a little tired of it. Time to move on."
But some people are finding it hard to let go.....
Last night after Novak Djokovic defeated Kevin Anderson, he did a little version of the dance and Andrea gave her thoughts on his moves at her post-match press conference:
Q. Is the dance officially retired, or is Djokovic stealing the dance?
ANDREA PETKOVIC: I hope so. He told me he was going to do it. I saw him in Indian Wells doing like some kind of it, but this was not really the Petko Dance. So I really hope he steps up his game. Yeah, Petko Dance from Petko is retired. I don't know if any other players will try to involve them in their games. I would be very happy to see it.
So players take heed: if you're gonna dance, be on your A game, because the original will be watching.
Monday, March 28, 2011 at 3:48PM 
Andrea Petkovic delivered one of the biggest upsets so far, taking out #1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the quarter-finals of the Sony Ericsson Open. It was an exciting match to watch, with Petko "mixing it up" and being aggressive with her shots. But of course, the MAIN reason I was watching is that I wanted to witness the Petko Dance, (which will be unfortunately going out of style) in the flesh, and let me tell you, it was 10 seconds of pure fabulousness.
It's interesting how a player's personality can affect the entire media room, and the moment Petko stepped in after a tense Caro presser, I felt my whole body relax. She's smart, funny, personable, and just has that "IT" factor that so many players lack. Her post-match press conference is still being talked about in the media room as I type this at 10:00 in the morning. It was classic. Pictures and highlights of the interview (with my question about her next Petkorazzi video) after the jump:
Friday, March 25, 2011 at 8:30PM 
Prior to the beginning of the night session, players from the WTA and ATP collected donations to raise money for the Japan disater relief. Here are some photos of the players prior to the ceremony. Aren't Gisela and Flavia too cute. BFF's for life.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011 at 6:43PM 
Photo: Sony Ericsson Open
The Sony Ericsson Open has begun!! To access all the draws, click here. Below is tomorrow's order of play. The bold matches are the ones I am really interested in (if you care).
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 10:20PM Rafael Nadal has looked a bit lost all week, and his first serve has been a HOT mess, but Rafa being Rafa, with his "never give up" mantra, still managed to get to the finals of the BNP Paribas Open against Novak Djokovic, someone he has OWNED in their head-to-head (16-7), and when you broke it down further into times they've met in finals, Rafa was 5-0. But today Rafa met new, confident Nole who was on a 17-0 winning streak and had already taken out Roger Federer 3 times this year...... and Rafa. Went. Down. With that said, I don't just mean that he lost the match (which he did to the tune of 4-6, 6-3, 6-2), but for the first time since I've watched Rafa play, it looked like he just gave up. He kept giving his camp the stink-eye out of frustration, and you know who wasn't there when Rafa looked at his box? That's right, Uncle Toni. I would bet all my savings that next week in Miami when Uncle T arrives, that serve will come around quick, because Uncle T don't play that.
But of course, congrats to Nole who is now 18-0 in 2011. He's on FIYAH.
Caroline Wozniacki defeated Marion Bartoli 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 to win the women's title. This is her second title this year and her 3rd straight final. If there is one thing you can say about Caro, (outside of her being a human backboard and a slamless number 1) is that the girl is consistent. She'll be keeping that number 1 ranking for a while and Bartoli will rise to number 10 in the world when the rankings come out next week. I can't blame Uncle Toni for that.
Photos: Getty Images
[OnTheGoTennis] | 2 Comments | Share Article | tagged ATP, Caroline Wozniacki, Marion Bartoli, Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, WTA Wednesday, March 16, 2011 at 10:08PM
Kim Clijsters was forced to retire in her 4th round match against Marion Bartoli at the BNP Paribas Open due to a nagging shoulder injury that she has had since the Australian Open, and although the pain isn't constant, and she says she's not too worried about it, she also doesn't want to take unnecessary risks.
At the end of the Australian Open I was already having some acupuncture from my trainer because I had some pain in that shoulder. And especially I kept telling him even with the drive volleys that I was hitting, everything that was kind of a little bit higher up, I felt I was struggling with it a little bit .
Obviously something is not the way it should be at the moment in this area, so I'm gonna have to figure out, gonna have some tests done, and then try to get to it and solve it.
I don't want to be in that position where I'm taking medication to cover the pain and not knowing if it's getting worse during my match.
She still intends to play at the Sony Ericsson Open begining March 21st, but wants to be completely healed for Fed Cup and the clay court season.
Obviously we have Miami, but then after Miami we have Fed Cup, which, you know, I'm taking very seriously.And also obviously the clay court season, which is, you know, a very tough part of the season for the shoulders. And so, you know, I'm gonna have to make sure that I'm, you know, fully healed until I start playing on that surface.
