I love sport, because every now and then something comes along and just blows you away.

Like Andrea Petkovic.

She may not be a "glamour queen" like Ana Ivanovic and I haven't yet heard anyone call her "our" Andrea.

But if you watched Petkovic beat Maria Sharapova on Sunday night, then launch into her "Petko Dance" before giving a funny, insightful post-match interview, you know what I'm talking about.

If you didn't, you'll have to trust me.

Petkovic is a good player. She's currently no.33 in the world, and getting better all the time. She beat Nadia Petrova at the US Open and now has the scalp of Sharapova and a berth in the Australian Open quarter-finals to go with it.

But it's much, much more than that.

Petkovic is a standout personality in a sport full of robots.

In a five-minute interview on Channel Seven, she was more entertaining than the majority of the women's top 10 have been for the past couple of years.

Think about it.

A lot of these tennis players have been doing nothing but practising and playing since they were old enough to carry a racquet. Pushy parents and overbearing coaches have drilled tennis into them at the expense of all the normalities of regular life.

They're zombies with designer outfits and two-handed backhands.

Petkovic is different.

A 23-year-old German born in Bosnia, she's the daughter of Zoran Petkovic, a former Yugoslavian Davis Cup player. Unlike Andre Agassi's old man, Zoran wanted Andrea to hit the books, not a fuzzy ball.

In fact, in her post-match comments on Sunday, Petkovic laughed when she mentioned that her father didn't want her to become a tennis pro. Imagine that: a tennis parent NOT wanting to live his life through his daughter. How refreshing.

Of course, as Petkovic rose in the rankings, something had to give and it was her political science studies at university. She does still make time to read Goethe and create videos with her alter ego that appear on YouTube.

And dance after a win.

Whether Petkovic has the ability or the desire to become a top-10 player remains to be seen. She has a tough match today against in-form Li Na of China. But regardless of what happens, you'd have to say her Australian Open has been a success.