STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 13, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
The WTA Tour continues its spring clay season in Europe with the 49th edition of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix this week in Stuttgart, Germany. The tournament moved from nearby Filderstadt to Stuttgart 20 years ago in 2006. Since 2009, it has been played on clay courts and it’s one of the few Tour events played on indoor clay. It also rewards the singles champion with a brand-new Porsche sports car in addition to first-prize money and WTA ranking points.
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This year, six of the Top 10 players in the PIF WTA Rankings are contesting among the 28-player field, led by this year’s first Grand Slam champion, Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan. The World No. 2 won her second career Grand Slam earlier this year at the Australian Open and two years ago lifted the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix trophy in 2024 and won a Porsche sports car, after round of 16 finishes in 2022 and 2023.
Seeded No. 2 is Coco Gauff of the United States, who is making her season debut on clay after skipping Charleston and Linz. Gauff is a two-time Stuttgart quarterfinalist in the last two years. She had much success on clay in the past year, going 18-3 on the red brick surface in 2025, and winning her second career Grand Slam singles title at Roland-Garros.
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Two-time Stuttgart champion Iga Swiatek of Poland is seeded third and she will be debuting her new coach, Francisco Roig of Spain, whom she added after a disappointing finish at the Miami Open last month, in which she was eliminated in the second round by Magda Linette, then parted ways with former head coach Wim Fissette.
.@iga_swiatek and @paulabadosa are putting in the work. 🎾#PTGP26 pic.twitter.com/yFxo2UZTxv
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 12, 2026
Meanwhile, last year’s champion, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, is back to defend her title. Ostapenko is unseeded in singles but is the top seed in doubles with Linz champion Zhang Shuai of China.
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On Monday evening, Germany’s Laura Siegemund will face 156th-ranked lucky loser Victoriya Tomova of Bulgaria in the first Centre Court match of the tournament beginning not before 6:30 p.m. Central European Time. The winner will advance to the second round against World No. 4 and third seed Swiatek.
The 51st-ranked Siegemund, who won the Stuttgart event in 2017 but was bounced in the opening round last year by fellow German Jule Niemeier, has called the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix “simply special” and “like no other tournament.”
The second main draw match of the evening will pair No. 58 Alexandra Ruzic versus No. 21 Liudmila Samsonova of Russia. The winner will advance to face World No. 3 and second seeded Gauff.
Around the Porsche Arena
Qualifying draw play wrapped up Sunday afternoon inside Porsche Arena. In the featured match, No. 1 seed Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey eliminated the lone remaining German, Anna-Lena Friedsam, 6-4, 6-0, in 75 minutes. Sonmez won 79 percent (19 of 24) of her first-serve points, converted six of 11 break points and outpointed Friedsam 64-43.
Other qualifying draw winners were: No. 2 seed Alycia Parks of the United States, No. 4 seed Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus and Gabriela Knutson of Czechia.
Zeynep #Sonmez joins the main draw! 💪🏽#PTGP26 pic.twitter.com/ZMJBfjRXu1
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 12, 2026
Each of the four qualifying draw second-round winners were placed into the main draw. Sonmez will open against No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy; Parks will face German wild card Noma Noha Akugue; Sasnovich will play No. 7 seed Karolina Muchova of Czechia; and Knutson was drawn to play No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
Later on, lucky loser Victoriya Tomova of Bulgaria, was added as a replacement for Magdalena Frech of Poland.
Porsche One Point Challenge
The premiere edition of the Porsche One Point Challenge will precede Monday’s first singles match on Centre Court inside Porsche Arena at 4:30 p.m. Central European Time. Under the motto: “A single rally can decide everything,” every match will consist of just one point.
Among the players who will compete include: Jasmine Paolini, Elina Svitolina, Jelena Ostapenko, Paula Badosa, Porsche Friend Eva Lys and Ella Seidel will be competing as well as Germans Julia Stusek and Eve Bennemann from the Porsche Talent Team.
Also competing are the Endurance World Champion and former Formula 1 driver Mark Webber and Fabian Bredlow.
The winner will receive an exclusive trip for two to Istanbul, courtesy of Turkish Airlines Holidays.
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Monday’s Stuttgart order of play
By the numbers
The winner of this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix will earn first-prize money of 161,310 euros and 500 WTA ranking points.
“Quotable …”
“The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix will always remain a quite special tournament for me. The fact that friends and family can see me live here makes it extra special.”
– No. 51 Laura Siegemund of Germany, during her pre-tournament news conference on Sunday, about the importance to her of participating in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
