With the Madrid Open concluded, we have had almost no opportunity to really stop and assess what went on before the tennis resumed in Rome this week.
However, Andrea Petkovic still found the time, and did so with both finals, won by Iga Swiatek and Andrey Rublev respectively.
Whilst her interest was naturally more geared towards the former, few would have expected her to be so upfront when discussing the men’s final.
But up front she was, not holding back in her scathing analysis.
Andrea Petkovic on the men’s Madrid Open final
Speaking on Racquet’s Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, in which she is now a regular co-host, Petkovic sought to gloss over the men’s Madrid Open final as quickly as she could.
After all, she was left somewhat numbed to the clash, with Rublev and Auger Aliassime hardly the most inspiring match-up.
However, it was not the respective players that led her to be ‘bored’ with the event, but instead what had come before it, detailing how Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka had seemingly set the bar at an impossibly high level.
This led her to state: ‘I was so bored. And I feel so bad for them. I kept texting you saying like ‘My god just let this be over’ and I really feel bad for them because it’s not entirely their fault.
‘I just watched yesterday’s women’s final from first point to last, we’ll talk about it so I’ll stick with the men, but I just want to say right off the bat that at 2-2 in the first set I sent you a message saying ‘This is the most incredible tennis I’ve ever seen,’ not knowing they would continue for another three hours like that.’
Andrey Rublev could kick on after latest title
Whilst Petkovic cannot really be argued with, as the men’s final pails in comparison to the women’s, it still marked a momentous occasion for Rublev in particular.
After all, the manner in which Auger Aliassime even reached the final was bizarre, with a slew of injuries that even he described as ‘crazy’.
However, those five days of extra rest did not afford him the energy needed to defeat an illness-riddled Rublev, who claimed just his second Masters 1000 title ahead of Rome and then the French Open.
His growing confidence on clay should surely be at an all-time high at the moment, and now could be the time for him to kick on after a fine run in Madrid which saw him beat Carlos Alcaraz on his way to the final.
Everybody knows his limitations at Grand Slams, but he will arguably have no better chance than now to surpass his quarter-final hoodoo at Roland Garros.
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