"Made me unhappy seeing Maria Sharapova win" - Andrea Petkovic reveals 'real reason' why Russian beating Serena Williams at Wimbledon made her uneasy

Andrea Petkovic recently opened up about the time she watched Maria Sharapova beat Serena Williams in the final of the 2004 Wimbledon Championships to win her maiden Grand Slam, stating that it made her feel 'uneasy' for a myriad of reasons.

Sharapova won the title at SW19 as a 17-year-old, becoming the third-youngest woman in history to win the tournament. Petkovic, who was also 17 at the time, did not feel thrilled about watching the Russian do so, as admitted by herself in a column she wrote on Substack.

Petkovic, reflecting on how she was always a good player who was not quite 'great,' reminisced about seeing Sharapova become the new star in global tennis with that win over Williams. At the time, the German believed that she was unhappy with the result because of her love for Serena Williams.

"I should have known a lot sooner that I wasn’t going to be great. Really, I should have known in 2004. Maria Sharapova won Wimbledon in 2004. She beat Serena in the final and instantly became the new star in an ever rapidly changing tennis sky," Petkovic said.

"I watched the match on my tiny TV in my children’s room in the attic of my parents’ house, sweating in the summer heat of a room under the roof with no air-conditioning and felt conflicted. It made me unhappy seeing Maria win and back then I thought it was because I loved Serena so much but now I know that was not the whole picture," she added.

Petkovic quickly realized, though, that her feelings of unease were because while Sharapova was taking over the world at 17, she herself was watching the game from her parents' house with not even enough points to enter the tournament.

While Petkovic, who reached a career-high World No. 9 ranking, maintained that she understood that every person had their own timing, she conceded that watching 17-year-old Sharapova triumph at Wimbledon made her doubt herself.

"The real reason why it made me feel uneasy watching Maria win Wimbledon aged 17 was that I was 17, too. But while Maria triumphed in front of thousands of people on the most famous Centre Court in the world I hadn’t even gathered enough ranking points to qualify for qualifying."

"Now, every person has their own timing and just because she was winning right then didn’t mean I couldn’t at a later point in life - but it did make me think and for the first time doubt myself," Petkovic said.

"I was very good at focusing really hard for long stretches of play" - Andrea Petkovic on how she made up for her relative lack of skills when compared to Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams

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During the column, Andrea Petkovic also spoke about what she felt was 'her" talent -- the ability to focus really hard for long stretches.

While the German admitted that that alone was not enough to give her a successful career like Maria Sharapova or Serena Williams', she believed it was the reason she enjoyed a relatively successful career.

"I was very good at focusing really hard for long stretches of play. That was my talent, I guess. So, in the rare case when the greats did have a slip-up, I was there and ready to pounce. It wasn’t enough to have the best tennis career of all time. Certainly not a Serena career, not even a Maria one. But it was enough to have a good career. And on good days, I would even say a great one," Petkovic said.

Petkovic ended her career with seven titles to her name, with her best Slam result being a run to the semifinals of the French Open in 2014.