Andrea Petković was one of the best in the tennis world. Her journey there was marked by fear, anger and tears. A conversation about the good sides of failure.
Ms. Petković, you write in your new book that your success has made you an asshole. What was happening?
At least for the time being. In 2011, after the Australian Open, just one little thing was enough to make me freak out. I was constantly irritable, but I’m actually not moody. The reason was the enormous pressure that I was under – or that I had probably imposed on myself. When I was among the best, I expected myself to beat the best.
They were among the top nine in the world rankings. Why didn’t that make you happy?
I grew up watching Hollywood films and had the naive idea that at some point in my life this one moment would come that would change everything. Then you’re successful, I thought, then you have money, then you’re happy. What happened? I became successful, I earned good money, but I didn’t feel any different than before. Success didn’t improve anything for me except that I had more money. He didn’t make me happy. That was the shocking realization for me: Success alone doesn’t change anything. Not inside. You also have to develop personally, outside of the pitch.
Conversely, that would mean: You don’t have to be afraid of failing, because success doesn’t make you happy anyway.