The Last Dance for Petkovic?

Angelique Kerber has cancelled her participation in the US Open in New York because of her pregnancy. Whether she will ever play professional tennis again may well be doubted. With Andrea Petkovic, the next great lady of German tennis will hang up her racket for good. The US Open 2022 will be her last major tournament. However, she may play in Germany once more to say goodbye to her fans there.

This could be the last time she does the Petko dance at Flushing Meadows, which the Darmstadt native has regularly performed after victories.

Both players have rarely conjured up their best tennis on court in recent weeks. In addition, the start of a Grand Slam tournament is always associated with a certain nervousness, even though both have a lot of experience. We therefore think that there will be no clear-cut affair and dare to predict more than 2.5 sets between Andrea Petkovic and Belinda Bencic.

For the German, who reached the quarter-finals of Flushing Meadows at the height of her powers in 2011, it would be a great thing if she reached the second round. After all, she doesn’t have much pressure left and can serve relatively freely in what could be her last match at the US Open. Nevertheless, we tend to think that in the duel between Andrea Petkovic and Belinda Bencic, it will be the Swiss who will rejoice in the end

Andrea Petkovic – Statistics & current form

Current world ranking: 104
Position in the seedings: unseeded

We don’t want to start a swan song for Andrea Petkovic. She is still in the running for the US Open. But you can already look back on her career a little. After reaching the quarter-finals at Flushing Meadows in 2011, the 34-year-old already had her carrier high eleven years ago when she was ranked ninth in the WTA Rankings. The Darmstadt native has won a total of nine titles on the WTA Tour.

Last match of a great career?

She won her last title just over a year ago at the 250 tournament in Cluj, Romania. Petko has already started her post-career career. So she won’t fall into a hole after tennis. But when we report on an upcoming match, we also have to look at the current form of the world number 104.

Overall, she has played decently in recent weeks but has rarely been able to show her full class over a full match. Andrea Petkovic has only won two of her last six matches. Most recently, she failed to qualify in Toronto and Cincinnati. However, she made it to the main draw at the US Open one last time.

But her attitude has not changed in her old age as a tennis pro. Petko will try everything again on Tuesday to leave the court as a winner. But we think this mission will be very difficult to achieve. In the match between Andrea Petkovic and Belinda Bencic, we are looking more at the odds for a win for the Swiss player.

Belinda Bencic – Statistics & current form

Current world ranking: 13
Position in the seedings: 13

Belinda Bencic describes her career as chaotic. Ups and downs alternate with great regularity. But at the US Open, her favourite Grand Slam tournament, she has experienced more ups than downs so far. The Swiss has already reached the quarter-finals twice at Flushing Meadows and even made it to the semifinals in 2019. Her record in New York is very presentable with 17-6 wins.

Up and down for the Swiss

However, she has also delivered strong and weak matches lately. After the final in Berlin, the 25-year-old failed in the first round at Wimbledon. Basically, that’s the thread running through the last few weeks. In Toronto, she recently reached the quarter-finals again, where she won against Serena Williams and Garbine Muguruza, among others.

Only a few days later, she lost to Sorana Cirstea from Romania in the first round in Cincinnati. On Tuesday, too, anything seems possible for the Swiss between a top match and a weak performance. That is another reason why one can definitely make a prediction of more than 2.5 sets in the match between Andrea Petkovic and Belinda Bencic.

Friendly might not be the right word, but Belinda Bencic and Andrea Petkovic know each other very well and also train together from time to time. That’s actually how it was at the end of last week, right before the draw, when this pairing actually came about. Perhaps it is the Swiss who will end Petko’s long career on Tuesday.

Andrea Petkovic – Belinda Bencic Direct comparison / H2H record

Andrea Petkovic and Belinda Bencic have met a total of four times to date. The direct comparison is a clear matter for the Swiss with 4:1 victories. However, the Swiss won the first four matches and last lost to the German in Washington in 2018. There has not been a duel between these two women in four years.

There has also been a match between Petkovic and Bencic at the US Open. In 2016, the two rivals met in the second round and the Swiss did not give the German a chance. After just over an hour, Belinda Bencic had reached the third round after a 6:3 and 6:2.

Andrea Petkovic – Belinda Bencic Tip

The big question before this match is whether it will be Andrea Petkovic’s last match on the tour. The player from Darmstadt might play once more in her home country, but there are signs that she will say goodbye to the big tournaments on the tour, as the bookmakers see the German as a clear underdog.

With Belinda Bencic, however, you never know what you’re going to get. From world class to district class, she has everything in her repertoire.

But we think that Petko will once again bring everything out of herself and fight until the last rally. That’s why we don’t expect a clear victory for the Swiss. We can rather imagine a long match, and that’s why we decided to play the betting odds on more than 2.5 sets between Andrea Petkovic and Belinda Bencic.