Niemeier, Siegemund Shine Under Stuttgart Spotlight

Jule Niemeier, Porsche Tennis, Stuttgart
Jule Niemeier (photo: Porsche AG)

STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 16, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The spotlight during the second day of main-draw action at the WTA 500-series Porsche Tennis Grand Prix inside Porsche Arena in Stuttgart was devoted to German tennis. It was a day and night for Germany’s best women’s players to enjoy, win or lose.

That’s because three of the four German players – who were awarded wild cards into the 28-player singles main draw, were featured on Centre Court Tuesday. All of them are members of Germany’s Billie Jean King Cup team, and this week – by chance – they are also all featured in the same quarter of the draw.

So, to put two of them on opposite sides of the net against each other Tuesday guaranteed there would be at least one German winner. It was provided for some compelling and dramatic tennis, too.

First, Laura Siegemund, who at age 37 is the “großartige dame” of German women’s tennis – and triumphed in winning the 2017 Stuttgart title – faced 121st-ranked Jule Niemeier in a late-afternoon matinee that stretched past dinner time and delayed the start of the evening session. Siegemund has always felt a close relationship with Porsche Arena, where she has enjoyed some of her biggest WTA Tour wins during her career, and Tuesday’s crowd was certainly supportive of her endeavor to notch a win against Niemeier.

‟The court is the same, the arena is the same. It still feels very similar,” said the 95th-ranked Siegemund, a native of Filderstadt who now calls Stuttgart home. “The support she is given by friends and family is a special motivation. It’s so nice having a tournament where your friends that don’t travel can also come and watch.”

Against the 25-year-old from Dortmund, who had never won a main-draw match in two previous appearances in Porsche Arena, Siegemund and Niemeier split the first two sets and it meant their first-round match would go the distance. Between the two, there were plenty of double faults and an abundance of break points. While neither played textbook-perfect tennis, each spilled their hearts upon the red-clay surface and both emptied their tanks by the end.

Finally, after more than three hours – including a 74-minute deciding set – Niemeier prevailed on her third match-point opportunity and won, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, after trailing 1-4 in the final set to advance to the second round.

‟The nice thing is that a German will definitely be in the next round,” Siegemund said on Sunday, after she learned she would be facing Niemeier. ‟Playing Jule is not going to be easy.” And it wasn’t.

Niemeier, who improved to 4-9 in all competitions this season, said during her on-court interview, in German, said that she “believed” in her chances to win. She called her win “an amazing effort.

“I just hung in there and battled hard,” added Niemeier, who was a 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinalist. “At times, I didn’t even know what the score was. Tennis is not always easy. Things happen that you have to deal with. I’m so pleased that I, with my team behind me, was able to close out the tight match.”

During their three-hour, 12-minute tussle – 15th tour-level match of the season that exceeded three hours according to the WTA Tour website – there were 210 points played and each competitor won 105. Niemeier finished with 26 winners to offset 45 unforced errors and converted three of 10 break points. By comparison, Siegemund hit 22 winners and made 23 unforced errors. She broke Niemeier twice in nine tries.

Paolini spoils Lys return to Stuttgart main draw

Later, under the evening spotlight, it was time for Germany’s best women’s player, Eva Lys, to take Centre Court. She was appearing in the main draw of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for the first time since 2022 when she advanced to the second round before losing to then-World No. 1 Iga Swiatek.

The 23-year-from Hamburg, who was recently named a “Friend of the Brand” by Porsche, took on World No. 6 and fifth seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy, a quarterfinalist who lost to eventual champion Elena Rybakina in Stuttgart last year. Lys and Paolini faced each other earlier in the season in Dubai and the Italian prevailed 6-2, 7-5. This time, Paolini beat Lys, 6-2, 6-1, needing just 64 minutes to secure the victory in her first foray on clay this season, to advance against Niemeier.

Although Paolini was credited with just nine winners, she converted six of eight break-point opportunities and benefited from 30 unforced errors by Lys. Paolini outpointed her opponent 63-37.

‟I’m so happy at being given the chance to play in Stuttgart,” Lys said prior to the match. ‟I was often ill or injured in the last few years and am simply grateful to be fit again and able to play in front of the people here.

‟Jasmine is in the Top 10 for a good reason. She’s incredibly consistent and plays amazingly intensively on clay.”

Lys added: ‟For me, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is one of the nicest tournaments on the Tour. The conditions in the arena are ideal, the standard is extremely high and, as a German, it means a lot to me.”

During her on-court interview, the happy-go-lucky Paolini said: “I’m sorry for you guys, but I had to do my job – as best as I can.” Paolini smiled and laughed as she spoke – and the mostly German crowd was in a forgiving mood toward the Italian No. 1. “Today, it went well for me, but you never know in tennis. I’m really happy about [the win].”

The fourth German wild card, 81st-ranked Tatjana Maria, will play lucky loser Ella Seidel of Germany in a Wednesday evening featured match at 6:30 p.m. for the right to face World No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States in the second round on Thursday.

Around the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

• Jelena Ostapenko advanced to the second round when qualifier Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine was forced to retire due to illness. The 24th-ranked Latvian was leading her friend and doubles partner this week in Stuttgart, 6-3, 3-0, after 58 minutes on Centre Court when the 46th-ranked Yastremska retired.

Ostapenko finished with an 85-percent efficiency of winning points on her first serve, hit 10 winners and converted three of nine break points. She outpointed Yastremska 53-34.

“I played well but it’s always a shame when a match ends like this. I hope it’s nothing serious,” Ostapenko said during her on-court interview, before offering a positive thought about being back in Porsche Arena. I’m really happy to be back here in Stuttgart. It’s an amazing atmosphere on this court. It’s a great tournament. I love to be here.”

Next, Ostapenko will face No. 7 seed Emma Navarro of the United States, ranked 11th, who eased past No. 17 Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil, 6-3, 6-0, in one hour and 16 minutes Tuesday night. Navarro, who lost only five points in the second set, saved all three break points she faced and converted four of nine break points against Haddad Maia. The World No. 11 from Charleston, S.C. outpointed the Brazilian 65-34.

• Qualifier Jana Fett upset No. 20 Donna Vekic, 7-6 (2), 6-4, in an hour and 58 minutes in an all-Croatian battle on Centre Court to advance to the second round against two-time champion and this year’s No. 2 seed Iga Swiatek of Poland.

In defeating Vekic, the 153rd-ranked Fett, who won her third straight match in Stuttgart in her tournament debut – including two in qualifying – garnered her first Top-20 win on Tour since 2017. Fett overcame 12 double faults to win 21 winners against 27 unforced errors, compared to 21 winners and 34 unforced errors by Vekic. Fett converted six of eight break-point chances and outpointed her opponent 78-67 to level her tour-level win-loss record to 1-1 this season (8-6 in all competitions).

“I think it was a very good match by both of us,” Fett said afterward during her on-court interview. “It was a great level. First set was very tight. I think I managed to play well in the pressure points and that was the key at the end. I’m really happy that I managed to do that. The second set, I think [Donna] started to play really well at the end – started going for it and it went in. Luckily, I played her really well in the last game and managed to finish [with the win].”

Fett was asked if it’s difficult to play someone who is from the same country. She replied: “It’s always a bit different. Maybe, there’s a bit more pressure, but we actually never really practice [together]. Our game styles we don’t really know each other very well. There was a bit more pressure than usual but it was a great game at the end.”

As for facing Swiatek in the next round on Wednesday afternoon, Fett said: “It’s definitely going to be fun for me. Playing her, it’s always … It’s always a pleasure to play someone like her. I can just enjoy and go for it.”

• No. 22 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, a semifinalist at Charleston two weeks ago, advanced to the second round in Stuttgart with a 6-3, 6-3 win over fellow Russian Liudmila Samsonova, ranked 19th, in an hour and 16 minutes on Court 1. Alexandrova fired 10 aces, dropped just six points on her first serve, converted four of nine break points against Samsonova and outpointed her opponent 65-46. Next, Alexandrova will oppose either World No. 7 and sixth seed Mirra Andreeva or her older sister, lucky loser Erika Andreeva, who play Wednesday afternoon.

• No. 3 seeds Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia were upset by unseeded Timea Babos of Hungary and Luisa Stefani of Brazil, 6-2, 3-6, 10-5, in an hour and 19 minutes on Court 1 in the only doubles match on Tuesday’s order of play. The Hungarian/Brazilian pair outpointed Chan and Kudermetova 59-51 to advance to the quarterfinal round against Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine.

• No. 38 Anastasia Potapova of Russia, who advanced to the second round after upsetting No. 21-ranked Clara Tauson of Denmark on Monday, withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday citing a recurrence of an old injury. She wrote on Instagram: “Very sad to announce that I’m not able to continue my run in Stuttgart . Last few days were very tough and unfortunately my old injury came up … It is what it is. …”

Potapova was scheduled to face World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the second round. Instead, with the walkover, Sabalenka advances to Saturday’s quarterfinals without playing a match this week.

“Yeah, that’s a bit awkward, but I was worried if everything is okay with her, so I messaged her and I figure out the situation,” Sabalenka said during her pre-tournament news conference Tuesday. “We adjusted a little bit of practice schedule, and I guess that’s gym time for me.”

Tuesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results

Wednesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play

By the numbers

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix was first staged in Stuttgart from 1978-1984. Then, it relocated to Filderstadt from 1985-2005 before returning to Stuttgart in 2006. Since 2009, the tournament has been played on a red-clay surface.

“Quotable …”

“If I really want some adrenaline, I go ride rollercoasters – like the crazy ones – then I feel great after. I also love to drive fast – like on extreme driving courses, where they teach you how to drift and stufff. I have a Porsche Cayenne Turbo at home. It’s pretty powerful. I honestly love driving it. I think this week is amazing that we can get a chance to drive those amazing cars.”

– Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, during her on-court interview Tuesday following her first-round win by retirement over Dayana Yastremska.

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