After her season closed with a double-bagel loss to Carla Suarez Navarro in Zhuhai, falling out of contention at the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai and closing the books on an emotionally turbulent season, Andrea Petkovic admitted that she’s having trouble coming to grips with her place in the game right now. Petkovic, World No. 24, took time to speak about her emotional discord with WTA Insider Courtney Nguyen, saying that she’s badly in need of a reassessment of her personal and professional goals. It was a very intimate interview that revealed just how torn and tattered Petkovic has been this season.

Read Nguyen's Interview with Petkovic in its Entirety

"It's just been the past two or three months, I just sort of lost the passion for tennis," Petkovic told Nguyen, saying that her mother fell ill earlier in the season and her heart was torn over whether or not she should continue to train and travel with the tour. "I wanted to be at home. But because I'm a professional and I'm German, I still went and did all the practices and everything I had to do. It wasn't like I just didn't do it. I wasn't going to just play the matches. I still practiced three hours a day. I still did my gym, I still did my workouts, I still did my fitness, I still went to the physios every day. I was still being professional with all this inside of me.”

She added: "It just felt like torture. … Every minute of it."

Petkovic says she plans to take the off-season to iron some things out in her mind, but added that she isn’t quite sure if she is up for the grind of professional tennis anymore: "I really have to figure out if I want to keep playing,” she said.

Now 28, Petkovic is a former Top-10 player who reached her first career Grand Slam in 2014. Not only has she been a talented and successful player throughout her career, she’s also been a fan favorite. Her relaxed off-court demeanor, openness and originality make her one of the brightest faces in the game today.

She’s also a deep thinker and has a philosophical mind. It’s a double-edged sword that the philosopher must wield. Life on the Tour, with its prize money and fame can seem like a boon for an outsider looking in, but for the players it can clearly be difficult. Endless training sessions, constant travel and the monotony of the days have taken a toll on Petkovic. Kudos to her for being open and sharing a little-observed part of the tour with fans and media.

We wish her well and hope she returns to tennis without the emotional burden.