The tennis is in full flow at the 48th Porsche Tennis Grand Prix now that the main draw matches have started on Monday. In the first match on Centre Court Anastasia Potapova overcame the Dane Clara Tauson in a tight three-setter. After losing the first set in a match lasting two hours 42 minutes, the 24-year-old eventually won through 2-6, 7-6(8), 6-3. It means she has enjoyed a successful start to her third Porsche Tennis Grand Prix where she caused an upset in 2023 by reaching the semifinal. ‟It’s never easy adjusting to clay from hard courts which is why I have to take care,” she said after the match. ‟I love playing in Stuttgart – the conditions are excellent and the crowd supports us fantastically. It’s an incredible tournament.”
In the last game of the day, Diana Shnaider progressed after an intensive duel with Veronika Kudermetova. In a match that first went one way and then the other, Shnaider won 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 and, like Anastasia Potapova, reached the round of the last 16 of the tournament packed with top players. Awaiting this year’s winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is a Porsche Macan Turbo as the main prize.
Action began on Court 1 with the first doubles encounter in which the Porsche Talent Team’s Nastasja Schunk and Ella Seidel were defeated 7-6 (3), 6-1 by the Jelena Ostapenko and Dayana Yastremska pairing. In the following singles, the Belgian Elise Mertens overcame the qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(3), 6-2.
Show-Event ‟Kick & Serve” thrills the crowd
The start of main draw matches in the Porsche Arena was preceded by an entertaining show tournament under the motto ‟Kick & Serve: Porsche Tennis meets VfB Stuttgart”. In mixed teams consisting of tennis pros and football legends, Andrea Petkovic, Eva Lys und Cacau took on Laura Siegemund, Zdravko Kuzmanovic and Fernando Meira – initially in a doubles tie-break, then in football tennis and finally another round of tennis. The threesomes served up an amusing contest that thrilled the crowd. Wearing microphones, the athletes wound each other up on the court and showed that fun and hard effort are not opposites. Andrea Petkovic’s team eventually came out 2-1 winners.
Day of the German players in the Porsche Arena on Tuesday
Tuesday’s spotlight will be on German women’s tennis – the encounter between Laura Siegemund and Jule Niemeier will start proceedings involving the nation’s players at 5.00 pm. Both players have been given a main draw wild card at the long-standing Stuttgart tournament. Siegemund, who triumphed in the Porsche Arena in 2017, feels a close bond with the place where she enjoyed her biggest tournament wins. ‟The court is the same, the arena is the same. It still feels very similar,” said the 37-year-old. 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.”
Immediately afterwards Eva Lys, currently Germany’s best player, commence her tournament campaign. The 23-year-old, who was recently named a ‟Friend of the Brand”, will take on the No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini. One of the Tour’s in-form players, the Italian is currently world ranked No. 6. The two recently went head-to-head at the WTA 1000 tournament in Dubai in February – Paolini was a 6-2, 7-5 winner. ‟I’m so happy at being given the chance to play in Stuttgart,” said Lys. ‟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.” The conditions in the Porsche Arena suit her: ‟I like playing indoors – no wind, nothing to bother you. And you notice just how professional the organisation is here.”
The day’s play on Centre Court starts at 12:30 with the match between the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Dayana Yastremska. The 2017 French Open winner will meet her doubles partner from Ukraine who earned a main draw berth via qualifying. It will be followed by the all-Croatian affair between Donna Vekic, the 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist and Olympic silver medallist in Paris, and qualifier Jana Fett. Tuesday’s schedule will close with the match featuring Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil and Emma Navarro. The 23-year-old American, a first timer in Stuttgart, was voted the ‟Most Improved Player of the Year” in 2024 by the WTA. Last season, she caught the eye by, amongst other things, reaching the last four at the US Open.
On Court 1, the match between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Liudmila Samsonova starts at 3 o’clock. It will be followed by the Hao-Ching Chan from Taipei and Veronika Kudermetova duo taking on the Hungarian Timea Babos and the Brazilian Luisa Stefani.
Monday’s results
1st round singles
Anastasia Potapova vs Clara Tauson (DEN) 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-3
[8] Diana Shnaider vs [Q] Veronika Kudermetova 5-7, 6-2, 6-3
Elise Mertens (BEL) vs [Q] Aliaksandra Sasnovich 7-6(3), 6-2
1st round doubles
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)/Dayana Yastremska (UKR) vs Nastasja Schunk (GER)/Ella Seidel (GER) 7-6(3), 6-1
Tuesday’s Order of Play
Centre Court
From 12.30 Uhr
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs [Q] Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
Followed by
Donna Vekic (CRO) vs [Q] Jana Fett (CRO)
Not before 5.00 pm
[WC] Jule Niemeier (GER) vs [WC] Laura Siegemund (GER)
Not before 6.30 pm
[WC] Eva Lys (GER) vs [5] Jasmine Paolini (ITA)
Followed by
[7] Emma Navarro (USA) vs Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA)
Court 1
From 3.00 pm
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Liudmila Samsonova
Followed by
[3] Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/Veronika Kudermetova vs Timea Babos (HUN)/Luisa Stefani (BRA)
Porsche in Tennis
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is the flagship of Porsche’s worldwide involvement in women’s tennis. First played in Filderstadt in 1978, the long-standing Stuttgart tournament has been held in the city’s Porsche Arena since 2006. It stands for tradition and innovation, as does the Porsche brand. As the most loyal sponsor of women’s international tennis, Porsche has accompanied the WTA’s oldest indoor event right from the start. Furthermore, Porsche has been supporting women’s tennis internationally for years. Iga Swiatek, Eva Lys and Maria Sakkari are ‟Friends of the Brand” in their home countries. Porsche has been a premium partner of the ‟Deutsche Tennis Bund” (DTB – German Tennis Association) since 2012 and is committed to fostering up-and-coming players in the Porsche Talent Team and the Porsche Junior Team.
