“Dear tennis, I am writing to you because I am ready to say ‘Goodbye’.” It is how Julia Görges’ letter to her sport starts. In it she calls it a day on her career. The quiet departure matches not only in these difficult times in which many things are more important than tennis. It also matches Julia Görges, one of the world’s top tennis players who had to suffer many setbacks during the course of her career. She however saw every sporting crisis as a chance to grow and become even stronger – as a player and as a person.
Sensational win at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
One of the most important stopovers en route to the tennis elite was her sensational win at the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. “It was my first big win and basically the start of my career,” she says. “Over and over again afterwards when returning to Stuttgart, big emotions were awakened by the pictures in my head.” Her success in the Porsche Arena was simultaneously the start of a quite special bond with Porsche: “Ever since the memorable win, Porsche has taken up a really special place in my heart.”
"Ever since the win at the 2011 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, Porsche has taken up a really special place in my heart." Julia Görges
Julia Görges began playing tennis aged five at the THC BW Bad Oldesloe club. She won her first ITF tournament in Wahlstedt in 2006. One year later she stood in the main draw of a WTA tournament for the first time in Doha where, after being given a qualifying wildcard, she fought her way to the last 16. She won her first WTA title in Bad Gastein in 2010. She was also highly successful during her career as a member of Porsche Team Germany in Fed Cup where she reached the final in 2014.
Queen of the aces
However, it was not always an upward trend. In the years after her win at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, she regularly suffered injury setbacks. When many no longer believed in her, she risked a spectacular new beginning in 2015. She replaced her whole coaching and support team, moved to Regensburg and returned, with renewed self-confidence, to her winning ways.
By winning the Kremlin Cup in Moscow, she qualified at the last minute for the WTA Elite Trophy in Zhuhai. At the prestigious season-ending tournament in China, she also came out on top to celebrate not only the biggest success of her career but also became the third player after Serena Williams and Karolina Pliskova to break the magical barrier of 400 aces in a single season. The “Queen of the Aces” was given the Fed Cup Heart Award by the ITF, the sport’s governing body, for her excellent display for Porsche Team Germany in the Fed Cup against Ukraine in Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena.
Breaks into the Top 10
In 2018, she continued her winning run by claiming the WTA tournament in Auckland at the start of the season. The belated reward for the fantastic comeback came in February when the newly announced Porsche Brand Ambassador was ranked in the WTA’s Top 10 for the first time in her career. Things became even better for Julia Görges as she reached her first Grand Slam semi-final in Wimbledon. In the hard-fought match against Serena Williams, she says, “I felt it was where I belonged and the only thing I lack for the win is the experience.” In the 2019 season, she started off with a second tournament success in Auckland, her seventh career WTA win. She added five doubles titles. However, the big dream of a Grand Slam win went unfulfilled.
"I am ready to close the tennis chapter of my life and open a new one, which I am really excited about." Julia Görges
Now therefore the quiet farewell. “I always knew how I would feel when it is time to say goodbye,” she writes in her letter to the sport that has given her so much. “That moment has arrived. I am ready to close the tennis chapter of my life and open a new one, which I am really excited about.”
Exemplary on and off court
“With her friendly demeanor, dynamism and her fighting spirit, Julia Görges enhanced the world of tennis for many years,” says Dr. Sebastian Rudolph, Vice President Communications, Sustainability and Politics of Porsche AG. “We congratulate her on a superb career. We would particularly like to thank her for all her exemplary efforts on and off court over the years as a member of Porsche Team Germany and as a Porsche Brand Ambassador. We would also like to wish her all the very best for the next stage of her life.”
