STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 15, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)

The 48th edition of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the WTA Tour’s annual kickoff to the European spring clay season, began in Stuttgart Monday. While action on the red clay inside Porsche Arena was light on Opening Day – with just a trio of singles and one doubles match – one player who drew much attention off the court was two-time champion Iga Swiatek, who won back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023 before losing in the semifinals in last year’s event.

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, a 500-series event which this year features the Top 4 players in the WTA Rankings – No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, Swiatek, No. 3 Jessica Pegula and No. 4 Coco Gauff, both of the United States – is a tournament that the World No. 2 from Poland has accumulated a lot of great memories.

“Obviously, I love this place,” the 23-year-old Swiatek said Monday afternoon, during her pre-tournament news conference inside Porsche Arena. “I always feel like coming to a tournament like that, from being in the U.S., it’s a little bit different vibe. It’s close to my home … I’m happy to see some Polish fans every year. For sure, it’s super exciting.”

Not quite home – but it sure feels like it. @iga_swiatek loves the Stuttgart vibe and the warm welcome from Polish fans! #PTGP25 #swiatek #WTA pic.twitter.com/bgv5khqlgw

— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 15, 2025

Swiatek, who as one of the top four seeded players drew a first-round bye, will play either No. 20 Donna Vekic or 153rd-ranked qualifier Jana Fett, both of Croatia, in her opening match later this week. The 5-foot-9-inch native of Warsaw was last on court at the Miami Open almost three weeks ago, where she was eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Filipina upstart Alexandra Eala, 6-2, 7-5.

“I came here a little bit earlier to get a couple of days of rest, and then I practiced every day pretty long. I’m happy to get some hours on this surface because it’s always pretty tricky,” said Swiatek, who has compiled a 17-5 win-loss record this season, which includes semifinal finishes in Melbourne, Doha and Indian Wells, as well as reaching the quarterfinals in Dubai and Miami.

“Obviously, with my schedule this year, I had a little bit more time to maybe do some technical adjustment. So, I’ve been focusing on that and I feel great.”

Hi! Look who‘s arrived! @iga_swiatek #porschetennis #igaswiatek #PTGP25 #arrival pic.twitter.com/5BhRCJFSNG

— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 10, 2025

Swiatek was asked to describe the adjustment of going from hard courts, which the first three months of the WTA Tour has focused on, to clay in Europe for the spring months. “Well, it’s a challenge because it’s not like I come to play and everything is perfect suddenly. We play on a hard court most of the year, so coming to clay court I still need some time to adjust to.

“But for sure, I feel like I’m in the right place. With a good amount of work and focus, quickly, I’m going to be able to start playing my game.

“Every year is different because for most of years, I didn’t have much time to do the transition. This year, I was able to do it a little bit calmer and I’m happy that I had a chance to do that. I’m happy to be here.”

Last year, Swiatek won the French Open for the fourth time in the past five years. It’s the most recent of the 22 career WTA Tour titles she’s won. Roland-Garros is just six weeks away and there will be a pair of WTA 1000s in Madrid and Rome for the Polish star that will serve as warm-ups for Paris. It adds up to a busy part of the tennis calendar for Swiatek.

red clay szn is here @iga_swiatek | #PorscheTennis pic.twitter.com/xs3zG1Cz69

— wta (@WTA) April 11, 2025

Although Swiatek’s past success at the French Open has elevated her to an elite status in tennis, she admits that her goal is to focus on herself.

“It hasn’t been easy for the past months because after having such great seasons,” Swiatek said. “I’ve been on a spotlight and my every move is kind of judged, the expectations are high.

“But yeah, my goal is to focus on myself and focus on the process, on what I want to change on the court. For sure, with Wim (her coach Wim Fissette) we have many ideas on how I can improve my technique. On practice court, it has been looking pretty well, so I want to implement that on matches.

“I try to keep myself busy with these things,” Swiatek added. “I’m pretty sure if I am going to work hard, the results also are going to come after that.”

Sunday work:

Iga Swiatek practices in Stuttgart ahead of her fourth Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. pic.twitter.com/83TpXS8VAQ

— Jimmie48 Photography (@JJlovesTennis) April 13, 2025

Potapova saves match point, beats Tauson

In her third appearance in Stuttgart, No. 38 Anastasia Potapova found herself down a match point during a second-set tie-break against No. 21 Clara Tauson of Denmark on Centre Court Monday evening during their featured first-round match. However, the Russian fought back and won the tie-break 10-8 – and the match, 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3 over the Danish No. 1 in two hours and 43 minutes to advance to a second-round meeting with World No. 1 and top seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.

In their first tour-level meeting, Potapova hit five aces, struck 40 winners, won 70 percent of her first-serve points, broke Tauson’s serve five times in 12 tries and took advantage of the 51 unforced errors by her opponent. She outpointed Tauson 107-102.

What a match to open the center court! ️ Anastasia #Potapova wins after 2:41 hours against Clara #Tauson!#PTGP25 pic.twitter.com/XpMw7gXd3q

— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 14, 2025

Also, advancing to the second round were: No. 29 Elise Mertens of Belgium, who defeated 111th-ranked qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, 7-6 (3), 6-2, in one hour and 45 minutes on Court 1 by outpointing her opponent 75-63; and No. 8 seed Diana Shnaider, who won an all-Russian first-round tussle over 51st-ranked qualifier Veronika Kudermetova, 5-7, 6-2, 6-3, in two hours and 14 minutes, wrapping up just before midnight. The 13th-ranked Shnaider hit 23 winners and converted four of five break points against Kudermetova and outpointed her opponent 91-79. Mertens and Shnaider will meet in the second round.

Aced It ⭐️

After a tense opener, @elise_mertens turned up the heat to knock out Sasnovich 7-6(3), 6-2 and advance into the next round!#PTGP25 pic.twitter.com/aPaFv35L1M

— wta (@WTA) April 14, 2025

Ostapenko/Yastremska advance in doubles

Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia and Dayana Yastremska of Ukraine advanced to the quarterfinal round of doubles with a 7-6 (3), 6-1 first-round win over Germany’s Nastasja Schunk and Ella Seidel in an hour and 24 minutes on Court 1. The Latvia/Ukranian pair dropped only four points on their first serve, converted seven of 11 break points and outpointed their opponents 67-48.

Next, Ostapenko and Yastremska will face either Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia or Timea Babos of Hungary and Luisa Stefani of Brazil, who play Tuesday. But before they play again as a doubles pair, Ostapenko and Yastremska will face each other in a first-round singles match on Centre Court Tuesday afternoon.

The top seeds in the 14-team doubles draw are World No. 5 Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada and World No. 3 Erin Routliffe of New Zealand.

Kostyuk, Sramkova withdraw with injuries

No. 25 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, last year’s finalist, has withdrawn from the tournament with an abdominal injury. In a social media post on her Instagram Monday, the 22-year-old Kostyuk wrote: “Unfortunately the injury I sustained during my last BJK Cup match will not heal in time, and I won’t be able to compete in Stuttgart this year.

“I had such an amazing time reaching the final here last year – thank you for those memories. I’m really sorry to the fans and so grateful for all your support. Wishing the tournament a great week, and I hope to see you all next year! M❤️”

Main draw update!
Unfortunately, Marta #Kostyuk and Rebecca #Sramkova have withdrawn from the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix due to injury. We wish both a smooth and speedy recovery.
Sara #Errani and Erika #Andreeva will join the main draw as Lucky Losers. pic.twitter.com/E2v9HWZbiY

— Porsche Tennis (@PorscheTennis) April 14, 2025

Kostyuk, who was scheduled to play World No. 7 and sixth seed Mirra Andreeva of Russia in the first round, will be replaced in the main draw by Andreeva’s older sister, 97th-ranked Erika Andreeva.

Also, No. 37 Rebecca Sramkova of Slovakia withdrew with an elbow injury. Sramkova, who had been scheduled to play No. 28 Magdalena Frech of Poland in the first round, has been replaced in the main draw by No. 152 Sara Errani of Italy.

Monday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results

Tuesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play

By the numbers

Russian Anastasia Potapova‘s victory over Clara Tauson of Denmark was her second career win over a Danish player as well as her 36th career triumph over a Top-50 player.

“Quotable …”

“I think in general it’s never easy to start a clay season. It was my first match [on clay] since the French Open last year. So, it’s been a long time ago. I just needed more time to get used to and get comfortable with this court. The biggest thing I like about Stuttgart is you get to play indoors. It’s always comfortable. You don’t have rain; you don’t have wind. You know how it’s going to be. You don’t have surprises.

“It’s an unbelievable tournament – one of the best weeks – thanks to the crowds. I really love coming back here.”

– Anastasia Potapova of Russia, during her on-court interview following her first-round win over Clara Tauson of Denmark Monday evening.