Andrea Petkovic said trying to maintain some semblance of a normal life has made her a more well-rounded person. The colorful 23-year-old has become a Twitter and YouTube sensation.
"I have experienced the things that 16, 17 and 18-year-olds do. I don't feel the urge to do these types of things, to go out and party. I have done that," she told the Sun. "I now have 100 percent energy to go into tennis as I do not feel I was missing out on everything. I still do things to try and take my mind off things and that is why I do my video blogs. I always carry two books with me. One novel and an autobiography. Right now I am reading Oscar Wilde and a biography about a Turkish rebel in the 1920s. If you remain stuck in the tennis world, you can become crazy and forget the things you need to improve to become a better player. Tennis is like a little world in itself…My friends are all from school. We have this unspoken rule that when we meet, they are not allowed to talk about tennis. A lot of my friends are artists, musicians and photographers. They do some weird stuff."