LUXEMBOURG, Luxembourg - For exceptional commitment to the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open, Germany's Andrea Petkovic was presented with the Jana Novotna Award by the tournament.
Presented annually since 2017, the award is given to a player who shows special affinity for the International event, which has been held annually since 1996.
Last year, the award was renamed in honor of the late Czech champion Jana Novotna, and presented to home favorite Mandy Minella, while former champion Monica Niculescu won the first award in the year prior.
"I feel very honored, I feel very blessed. Jana was somebody that I always looked up to, and it was with great sadness when I heard of her passing," Petkovic said.
"This is just a great honor for me, and I'm just very humbled. It feels strange, because there are many more players that deserve this than me.
"What I really like, and what's important to me about tennis is that all my friends and colleagues that I've played against, it's from them that I take the life lessons that I try to show on court.
"The girls that have been faster than me, more talented than me, smarter than me, I just take life lessons from them and I get inspired by them. That's how I evolve every day, and I want to give that back to them."
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Petkovic was presented with the award at Sunday's players' party, ahead of her 11th career appearance at the event.
A semifinalist in 2012, Petkovic has reached two other quarterfinals in Luxembourg.
"I'm always very happy, and I love coming to Luxembourg...tennis in general has always been more than a sport for me," Petkovic added.
"It's about the people behind the scenes, the people who make these tournaments happen, the kids that watch us, and the proximity to the fans - that's all a given here in Luxembourg, and that's why I love coming here.
"It's also very close to my home, so I have a lot of friends with me, and my family comes to watch me play. Everything is so great here and I'm so glad to be back."
Fresh off of reaching the semifinals at the Upper Austria Ladies' Linz, where she lost to eventual champion Coco Gauff, the former World No.9 will face No.6 seed Camila Giorgi in the first round on Tuesday.
