"Come out, play a first-round match and barely be able to move": Andrea Petkovic never feared the worst in Serena Williams comeback

Andrea Petkovic gave Serena Williams a solid 7/10 on her report card as she looked into what made the comeback both good and also needing improvement.

Petkovic spoke on Prime Video after Maya Joint secured victory 6-3, 6-7, 6-3 to set up a second round clash with Alexandra Eala in a repeat of their epic Eastbourne final.

But the coverage in Germany translated from Prime Video offers a more measured tone without getting too carried away surrounding the Serena comeback. A far cry from BBC for instance who were criticised on social media for almost writing Joint off from the get go and almost a procession against a player who had barely won in months.

That of course wasn't the case in the end as Joint won handily in the final set but Petkovic opened up on what made the comeback good and bad. "I actually thought it was pretty good, I'd give it seven out of ten," said Petkovic for Prime Video. "I never expected her to come out, play a first-round match and barely be able to move. I knew she was in good shape. But when you haven't played a match for four years, that's a completely different challenge. Given that, she put in a good performance. She made a lot of return errors against someone who isn't a particularly strong server. The big points require match practice, and naturally she didn't have that yet."

At the time though prior to that, Mischa Zverev and Sascha Bajin on their coverage discussed whether they expected Serena to run away with it after the second which of course didn't come true. "So far everything's OK, it's going according to plan. The first set was a little shaky, she edged the second 7-6. Hopefully it'll be a comfortable 6-2, 6-3 from here to finish the evening. What do you think?" said Zverev.

To which Bajin responded: "It's difficult. I hope so too, but from what I'm seeing, the fatigue is going to start setting in. If Maya Joint plays a little more into the open court, maybe goes to the same corner two or three times, which is easier said than done under pressure, and mixes in some changes of direction on this surface, then Serena is really going to have problems."

Bajin, who, of course, coaches Diana Shnaider on the tour, who herself saw off Eva Lys earlier on Tuesday evening's assessment, was semi-correct as Maya Joint went on to have a successful victory and pressed her to the limit in what was a deciding set in the end.