Germany’s Andrea Petkovic was visibly emotional on Tuesday as she headed into retirement following a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 loss to Swiss Olympic champion Belinda Bencic in the first round at the US Open. Petkovic, who announced her decision to retire on Sunday, has won seven singles titles over her career and reached a ranking of world No. 9 in 2011.

“I still love the game, still have a tremendous amount of passion for the game,” Petkovic told reporters. “It’s more the body that is not allowing me to play tennis anymore in a way that I want to play it, train the way I want to train, just play a full season really. “The last four weeks I’ve just been playing with painkillers and anti-inflammatories. That was just the part that made me decide not to continue anymore, not the lack of passion or want for the game. So I think that was the saddest part in a way.”

Paire’s ‘demons’

Benoit Paire said his “demons” returned during his first-round loss to Cameron Norrie where the Frenchman struggled to stay focused during the match’s biggest moments. “I was leading 5-3 and I could have taken the second set but my demons returned again, the double faults, and it all starts again,” Paire was quoted as saying in L’Equipe. “I am not sure if I will continue the season, maybe stop there and see if I come back next year. At the moment, I need some rest.”

Venus tight-lipped

Venus Williams made a quiet exit from the singles on Tuesday after losing 6-1, 7-6(5) to Belgian Alison Van Uytvanckin front of a half-empty Arthur Ashe Stadium. Sister Serena had signalled her intention to retire in a Vogue article in early August. But Venus has been tightlipped, with every indication she plans to carry on. Asked directly after her loss if she too might be preparing to evolve away from tennis Venus was blunt. “Right now I’m just focused on the doubles,” said the senior Williams.