"It felt like Caroline Wozniacki had committed blasphemy" - Andrea Petkovic spills insider secrets on how tennis has changed over the years

Former WTA pro Andrea Petkovic recently stepped forward to express her views on the drastic changes tennis has undergone in the past. The German criticized players' idea of frequently changing their rackets and other gear, explaining how it could turn down one's overall game. She revised Caroline Wozniacki's case, mentioning how a simple switch in brands resulted in the downfall of her career.

Caroline Wozniacki attained the WTA world No. 1 ranking on October 11, 2010, becoming the first Danish player to achieve this feat. Her surge also came with consistency as she held the top spot for a total of 71 weeks between 2010 and 2012, along with finishing as the world No. 1 in both 2010 and 2011. Wozniacki's ranking later dropped to No. 74 by August 2016. This was amid multiple injuries and a controversial switch from Babolat to Yonex in 2011.

Former WTA pro Andrea Petkovic recently unearthed Wozniacki's unforgettable drop in numbers. In her self-managed blog about "How tennis has changed?" she highlighted the rise in frequency of multiple racket changes by players.

"It has become normal to experiment with material. Players are changing racquets, strings and clothing sponsors like I used to change boyfriends when I was still young and reckless (it was obviously their fault, not mine)," she wrote.

The German ex-pro brought up Caroline Wozniacki's case study to guide the young generations about the practice of making frequent changes in gear.

"I remember vividly what a shock it was to hear Caroline Wozniacki had changed from Babolat to Yonex and everybody blaming the racquet change for when she dropped from number 1 to somewhere around 70. It felt like Caroline had committed blasphemy," she added.

Andrea Petkovic retired from professional tennis on December 12, 2022, after her final Grand Slam appearance at the US Open. Despite marking an end to her professional career, the German is still connected to the tennis world as a renowned analyst and commentator, contributing to Sky Deutschland and ZDF.

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Andrea Petkovic shares her experience of watching Iga Swiatek's game for the first time

Iga Swiatek at the Mutua Madrid Open - Day Ten - Source: Getty

Renowned tennis analyst Andrea Petkovic couldn't hold herself back from sharing a detailed analysis of her observation about Iga Swiatek. The former pro highlighted a missing technical aspect that she thinks would level up the Pole's game under new coach Wim Fissette's guidance.

If Iga had a slice, even if she doesn’t feel comfortable with putting it up high, maybe with a slice she could gain some time. You either have to overpower her like Amanda did, because she [Ostapenko] hates other big hitters, she always loses to Osaka as well. So you have to overwhelm her with pace or if you can’t do that then you have to junk her," she said, as reported by The Tennis Gazette.

The comment from Andrea Petkovic was recorded after Iga Swiatek's disappointing defeat to Jelena Ostapenko at the Qatar Open semifinals. Ever since then, Swiatek has been on the hunt for her first title of the season. Her latest defeat against Coco Gauff at the Madrid Open semifinals has added more concerns about her dominance on clay.