Jule Niemeier digs deep when advancing to last 16

What an enthralling evening in the well-filled Porsche Arena on Tuesday evening: the first all-German duel at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix between Jule Niemier and local hero Laura Siegemund turned into a passionate three-set tussle – and a tennis stunner. Last week, the two were in action for Germany in the Billie Jean King Cup and now they were competing against each other in a dramatic duel for a place in the last 16. Despite being 4-1 down in the third set, Niemeier dug deep to turn the match on its head and converted her third match point after three hours 12 minutes – to the cheers of the thrilled spectators with a fist pump, tears of joy and visible relief.

‟I just hung in there and battled hard – at times I didn’t even know what the score was,” said the 25-year-old who reached the 2022 Wimbledon quarterfinal. ‟Tennis is not always easy. Things happen that you have to deal with. I’m so pleased that I, with my team behind me, was able to close out the tight match.” By triumphing, she is still in with a chance of taking home the winner’s car – a Porsche Macan Turbo.

The spotlight was then on another German player: Eva Lys, a Friend of the Brand Porsche since this week, faced the No. 5 seed Jasmine Paolini in her first-round match. Momentarily the world No. 6, the 29-year-old was in excellent form in her first clay court match of the year and duly gave the German No. 1 almost no chance when winning 6-2, 6-1. Paolini took a little more than an hour to progress to the last 16 where she will meet Jule Niemeier. ‟I’m feeling good and am just happy to get to the next round,” said the overjoyed victor who last year in Stuttgart lost to the eventual winner Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. ‟I’m sorry for Eva and the fans, but I had a job to do.”

For Eva Lys, it was the second head-to-head with Jasmine Paolini this year. Like in Dubai, the Italian once again cruised to victory. ‟It was a very bad performance from me and I can’t say anything to make it look better,” said the 23-year-old Hamburg resident when analysing the match honestly. ‟She’s a top player but if I want to come away with a better result then, I have to do more.” Physically, Lys is not quite back to full fitness after her illness. ‟It’s therefore brutal playing such players, they devour you and spit you out,” continued Lys. ‟Nevertheless, it was incredible fun out there in front of such a crowd.”

It was still early in the afternoon when Jelena Ostapenko advanced to the second round by beating Dayana Yastremska in the day’s first Centre Court match. With the score at 6-3, 3-0 in her favour, her Ukrainian doubles partner was forced to retire due to illness. The 2017 French Open champion had mixed feelings when speaking afterwards: ‟I played well but it’s always a shame when a match ends like this. I hope it’s nothing serious.” Her pleasure at being back in the Porsche Arena was all the greater saying, ‟The atmosphere is magnificent, and the tournament is so well organised. Even though the courts are a little slower this year, it’s a lot of fun.”

Another player to progress is Jana Fett who came out on top in the all-Croatian affair against Donna Vekic. The qualifier won 7-6(2), 6-4 after one hours 58 minutes and has reached the last 16 for the first time at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. In the encounter against her more famous countrywoman – Vekic is currently the world No. 20, a 2024 Wimbledon semifinalist and the Olympic silver medallist in Paris –, the world-ranked No. 153 impressed with her strong nerves and hard-hitting in the decisive moments. ‟It was a very good match, the level was high all the way through,” she said. ‟I surprised myself as to how well I felt today. Obviously my and my team’s hard work is paying off.”

The day ended on Centre Court when the world No. 11 Emma Navarro progressed to the round of the last 16 after defeating Beatriz Haddad Maia. The 23-year-old American, who last year reached the last four at the US Open and who is seeded No. 7 in Stuttgart, won 6-3, 6-0 and continued the excellent form she has showed in the past months. Earlier in the afternoon on Court 1, Ekaterina Alexandrova was a comfortable 6-3, 6-3 winner against Liudmila Samsonova and has also secured herself a last 16 slot.

Wednesday features a sister/sister duel and Swiatek’s opener
Wednesday at the long-standing Stuttgart tournament will begin with a special duel as, starting at 12.30 pm, two sisters – Mirra and Erika Andreeva – will go head-to-head. The 17-year-old Mirra, momentarily the world No. 7, counts as one of the season’s most improved players and has already celebrated two title wins in 2025 at the WTA-Masters tournaments in Dubai and Indian Wells. Erika, who has moved up to the main draw as a Lucky Loser, won their only WTA duel 6-3, 6-1 in Wuhan in October 2024. Immediately afterwards, Magdalena Frech from Poland will face the 37-year-old Italian Sara Errani, who, though defeated in qualifying, was given a main draw berth also as a Lucky Loser.

At 5 o’clock, one of the defining players in the past few years, Friend of the Brand Porsche in Poland Iga Swiatek, will start her tournament campaign. The current world No. 2 won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2022 and 2023 with aplomb. This time around, the five-time Grand Slam champion counts as one of the top title contenders. In her first match, she will take on Jana Fett who this year has already stood on court in Stuttgart for over seven hours 30 minutes.

The match will be followed by the week’s second all-German duel when wild card holder Tatjana Maria, the 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist, will meet the third Lucky Loser Ella Seidel from the Porsche Talent Team. To close the day’s schedule, Elise Mertens will face the No. 8 seed Diana Shnaider.

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.

Tuesday’s results
1st round singles
Jelena Ostapenko (LAT) vs [Q] Dayana Yastremska (UKR) 6-3, 3-0 RET
Q] Jana Fett (CRO) vs Donna Vekic (CRO) 7-6(2), 6-4
[WC] Jule Niemeier (GER) vs [WC] Laura Siegemund (GER) 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
[5] Jasmine Paolini (ITA) vs [WC] Eva Lys (GER) (ITA) 6-2, 6-1
[7] Emma Navarro (USA) vs Beatriz Haddad Maia (BRA) 6-3, 6-0
Ekaterina Alexandrova vs Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-3

1st round doubles
Timea Babos (HUN)/Luisa Stefani (BRA) vs [3] Hao-Ching Chan (TPE)/Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 3-6, 10-5

Wednesday’s Order of Play
Centre Court
From 12.30 Uhr
[6] Mirra Andreeva vs [LL] Erika Andreeva
Followed by
Magdalena Frech (POL) vs [LL] Sara Errani (ITA)
Not before 5.00 pm
[Q] Jana Fett (CRO) vs [2] Iga Swiatek (POL)
Not before 6.30 pm
[WC] Tatjana Maria (GER) vs [LL] Ella Seidel (GER)
Followed by
Elise Mertens (BEL) vs [8] Diana Shnaider

Court 1
From 12.30 Uhr
Ekaterina Alexandrova/Shuai Zhang (CHN) vs Miyu Kato (JPN)/Aldila Sutjiadi (INA)
Followed by
Desirae Krawczyk (USA)/Jessica Pegula (USA) vs Nicole Melichar-Martinez (USA)/Liudmila Samsonova
Followed by
Timea Babos (HUN)/Luisa Stefani (BRA) vs Jelena Ostapenko (LAT)/Dayana Yastremska (UKR)
Followed by
Nadiia Kichenok (UKR)/Yifan Xu (CHN) vs Alexandra Panova/Fanny Stollar (HUN)
Followed by
Ulrikke Eikeri (NOR)/Monica Niculescu (ROU) vs [4] Asia Muhammad (USA)/Demi Schuurs (NED)

Further information as well as film and photo material and our Media Hub can be found in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.com.
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