STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 17, 2023 (by Michael Dickens)
A wealth of top-ranked talent – including eight of the current top-10 players in the world – has descended upon Stuttgart, Germany this week for the 46th edition of the the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
The draw for this year’s indoor event, the traditional start to the spring European clay season, revealed World No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland as the top seed in the field of 28. The quartet of top seeds includes World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, runner-up at Stuttgart in each of past two years; World No. 4 Ons Jabeur of Tunisia, who won the Credit One Charleston Open on green clay two weeks ago, and World No. 5 Caroline Garcia of France, who won the year-end WTA Finals championship last fall.
The defending champion is back in town! 👀 Hello, @iga_swiatek! 👋🏼 pic.twitter.com/oP4h2Bhv85
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 15, 2023
This year’s Stuttgart field also includes World No. 6 Coco Gauff of the United States, World No. 7 and reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan, World No. 8 Daria Kasatkina of Russia, World No. 9 Maria Sakkari of Greece, and 2018 Stuttgart champion Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic. World No. 10 Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic, who won the Stuttgart crown in 2019, withdrew from the tournament on Sunday due to an injured right foot.
“The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix has been firmly anchored in the Stuttgart region’s sporting and societal life for over 40 years,” said Oliver Blume, Chairman of the Board of Management of Porsche AG. “With its class, it radiates out into the whole world and is therefore a fantastic flagship for Porsche. We are delighted at being able to once again present the world’s finest players to the region’s people in the Porsche Arena.”
Awaiting this year’s tournament champion will be a Neptune Blue Porsche Taycan Turbo S Sports Turismo as the main prize that goes with first-prize money of 120,150 euros and 470 WTA rankings points.
Solid start for Zheng
Zheng Qinwen of China opened play Monday afternoon with a 6-4, 6-4 win over lucky loser Alycia Parks of the United States on Court 1. A break of serve in each set of the one-hour, 41-minute match provided the 20-year-old Zheng with a comfortable margin against No. 55 Parks. The 25th-ranked Zheng outpointed the American 67-56. The win sets up a third career meeting for Zheng with World No. 1 and top seed Iga Swiatek of Poland.
Welcome in Round 2️⃣, Zheng Qinwen! 👋🏼 https://t.co/CoMCt9DJ5o
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 17, 2023
In an on-court interview following her victory, Zheng said it was her desire to play “in the big stadium” next time. Since she will oppose the defending champion Swiatek in the second round, it’s certain that her wish will be granted.
“That’s perfect. I like challenges,” said Zheng, beaming a big smile.
“I’ve already played her twice and hope I can learn from the experience. In tennis you never know what’s going to happen. That’s the beauty of it.”
• Also advancing to the second round was 77th-ranked Spaniard Cristina Bucsa, who won 12 of the final 16 games to beat Germany’s 106th-ranked Tamara Korpatsch of Hamburg, 3-6, 6-4, 6-0, in a match-up of qualifiers.
Cristina Bucsa is the second player to reach the next round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She defeats Tamara Korpatsch 3-6, 6-4, 6-0. Congrats!#porschetennis #PTGP23 pic.twitter.com/AqVKMluqIo
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 17, 2023
• Finally, No. 23 Donna Vekic of Croatia recorded her third top-20 triumph of the season after defeating No. 18 Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia, 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5) behind 10 aces and 20 winners. Alexandrova was undone by 61 unforced errors. Next, Vekic will face either No. 8 seed Maria Sakkari of Greece or No. 17 Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic.
We love those emotions! 😤@DonnaVekic https://t.co/LhuYIXEAzF
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 17, 2023
“They were two extremely close sets,” Vekic admitted, “but I knew full well that there are no easy matches here. Luckily enough, the clay court is very quick; it suits my serve nicely.”
Top-seeded doubles team Kichenok and Ostapenko ousted
Veronika Kudermetova and Anastasia Potapova, both of Russia, came from a set down to upset the No. 1 seeds, Lyudmyla Kichenok of Ukraine and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6. The highest-remaining doubles seeds are No. 2 Desirae Krawczyk of the United States and Demi Schuurs of the Netherlands, the defending champions, who begin their title defense Tuesday against Nadiia Kichenok of Ukraine and Kimberley Zimmerman of Belgium.
Around the Porsche Arena
Among the wild cards in the singles draw is former US Open champion Emma Raducanu, who is a Porsche Brand Ambassador, now ranked 68th. She will play former French Open champion and current No. 22 Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia in a featured match Tuesday evening, with the winner moving on to face No. 3 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. Germany’s Tatjana Maria and Jule Niemeier as well as Paula Badosa of Spain also received wild cards.
.@paulabadosa is dreaming about Porsche cars tonight! 🥰 pic.twitter.com/1LNZ8bIsPR
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 16, 2023
Monday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results
Tuesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play
Porsche donates to the Ukraine aid programs through “Aces for Charity”
As part of this year’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the “Aces for Charity” campaign will donate 356 euro for every ace hit in this week’s tournament, which will benefit Ukraine aid. “The sum is inspired by the first Porsche 356,” said Sebastian Rudolph, Vice President Communications, Sustainability and Politics of Porsche AG. “Porsche thus creates a stimulus for societal responsibility and donates money for people finding themselves in hardship through no fault of their own.”
First main draw day, first aces for charity. Thank you, ladies! 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/mGFgUyF627
— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 17, 2023
By the numbers
After achieving a 15-match winning streak on indoor hard courts, which included winning her first WTA Tour title in Lyon two months ago, Alycia Parks has fallen on hard times. The American lost in the final round of qualifying to Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch, 6-2, 6-4, on Sunday. Then, after receiving entry into the main draw as a lucky loser, she lost on Monday to Zheng Qinwen of China in straight sets. Parks has won just one of eight main draw matches since her title run in Lyon.
“Quotable …”
“We’re not one of the really big tournaments, we don’t have the biggest prize money and not the most world ranking points, and nevertheless the world’s best players come to us. It’s a fantastic statement telling us that they feel at home in Stuttgart and they like being here. And when it comes to the field, we’ve basically got an even stronger one than at a Grand Slam. Here the world No. 10 is not even seeded and can therefore meet the No. 5 in the first round. That doesn’t happen at any other tournament.”
– Markus Günthardt, Porsche Tennis Grand Prix tournament director
