Favourites prevail on the first day of matches in the Porsche Arena
2023 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Donna Vekic (CRO)
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- Donna Vekic from Croatia and the Chinese Qinwen Zheng have both progressed to the last 16.
- The Spaniard Cristina Bucsa has also advanced after her victory against the German qualifier Tamara Korpatsch.
- Tatjana Maria from Porsche Team Germany will play her opening match on Tuesday against Switzerland’s Ylena In-Albon.
- Porsche Brand Ambassador Emma Raducanu will take on the former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko.
- Andrea Petkovic bid farewell to the Stuttgart tennis fans in an exhibition match.
The favourites prevailed on the first day of main draw matches at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The only German qualifier – Tamara Korpatsch – missed out on advancing to the round of the last 16. Tuesday will see several top players entering the tournament fray in the Porsche Arena.
Stuttgart.
The 46th Porsche Tennis Grand Prix picked up speed on the first day of main draw matches on Monday. Straight away in the first Centre Court singles, the Porsche Arena crowd was taken on an inner roller coaster ride. In the duel between two qualifiers, Germany’s Tamara Korpatsch was defeated 3-6, 6-4, 6-0 by the Spaniard Cristina Bucsa despite winning the first set and generally playing well over a long period. Donna Vekic (Croatia) came out on top in a high-class and equally tight match afterwards against Ekaterina Alexandrova 7-6 (7), 7-6 (5). “They were two extremely close sets,” said the winner, “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.” In the day’s first encounter, the Chinese Qinwen Zheng downed the lucky loser Alycia Parks from USA 6-4, 6-4 on Court 1. She will now face the world No. 1 and title-holder Iga Swiatek in the round of the last 16. “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.“
In the evening, the spectators enjoyed a special exhibition match titled “Next Gen, please” when Andrea Petkovic, one of the crowd favourites for many years at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, and Anna-Lena Herzgerodt (nee Grönefeld) bid farewell to Stuttgart’s tennis fans. As representatives of the golden generation, they were supported by Porsche Team Germany’s Tatjana Maria and Anna-Lena Friedsam. Their opponents were Noma Noha Akugue, Ella Seidel and Sonja Zhenikhova, three of Germany’s talented youngsters as well as the German No. 1 Jule Niemeier.
Numerous highlights on Tuesday
After the opening main draw matches, other top players will on Tuesday start their campaigns at the tournament, where a Porsche Taycan Turbo S Sport Turismo is at stake as this year’s main prize for the winner. The day’s first encounter on Centre Court starting at mid-day, the Italian Martina Trevisan will go head-to-head with Beatriz Haddad Maia from Brazil, the world No. 14. Immediately afterwards, the crowd can look forward to probably the biggest highlight of the day when the No. 7 seed Daria Kasatkina faces the former world No. 2 Paula Badosa (Spain), who has been given a wild card.
Things will get serious at 5 o’clock at the earliest for Porsche Team Germany’s Tatjana Maria. The 2022 Wimbledon semifinalist, who won her third career title last week in Bogota, will meet the Swiss qualifier Ylena In-Albon in her opening match. “I hardly watched anything of qualifying, which is why I can’t say anything about her. But the field here is incredibly strong and you just know things are going to be tough from the first round,” said the German who last played at the long-standing Stuttgart tournament 11 years ago and is pleased to be back: “It’s a great feeling being a part of everything again. It’s something special for me that I can play my home tournament with the support of my family.”
More excitement is also on the cards when two former Grand Slam winners meet. The Porsche Brand Ambassador Emma Raducanu (Great Britain), the first ever qualifier to triumph at the US Open in New York when lifting the trophy in 2021, will play the Latvian Jelena Ostapenko, the 2017 French Open champion. Another Roland Garros winner will be on court in the day’s last match as the Czech Barbora Krejcikova, who was victorious in Paris in 2021, will meet Liudmila Samsonova.
Further information as well as film and photo material and our Media Guide can be found in the Porsche Newsroom: newsroom.porsche.de.
The latest information about the worldwide Porsche involvement in tennis is available on the @PorscheTennis Twitter channel and the @porschetennis Instagram channel.
Markus Rothermel
Communications, Sustainability and Politics
Spokesperson Sports Communications
+49 (0) 170 / 911 0779
markus.rothermel@porsche.deText
English (Porsche AG)
T23_0152
2023/04/17
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Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Day 3 - Favourites prevail on the first day of matches in the Porsche Arena