Andrea Petkovic discribes difference in playing Serena Williams, Naomi Osaka
Former world No. 9 Andrea Petkovic tried to explain the difference between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka. Petkovic said people think Williams plays power tennis, but you feel you can't do anything when the former world No.
"With Serena, people think she plays power tennis. When Serena is playing her best, she is not playing that power tennis. It's a different way of feeling powerless against her because she builds a point well.
So with Serena, you just have the feeling when she's playing well that in every part of the game, she's just that much better. You feel she's better in all the departments, just a tiny bit, which is enough to destroy you on court mentally and like, suck out your soul [laughs]," Petkovic told WTA Insider.
Petkovic said you get the feeling Osaka is physically too strong for you when it comes to Osaka. "With Naomi, it's a different feeling of powerlessness where it feels like she's physically too strong for you, too powerful for you.
It just feels like I can't possibly hit the ball as hard to push her back on the baseline because she's going to already throw the kitchen sink at me," Petkovic added. "It's like being in a swordfight; somebody is so fast that the only thing you can do is defend.
You don't even have the time to think about attacking. That's how it feels with Naomi. With Serena, it feels like you're fighting, but for some reason, you're getting slit everywhere all the time. That's the main difference."
Petkovic has played Williams five times, and she has zero wins against the American. On the other side, Petkovic has a 1-1 head-to-head against Osaka. Petkovic's lone win against Osaka came in 2016 when the Japanese were just 16.
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