Tournament Director Markus Günthardt and the Sports Director Anke Huber have drawn a positive balance shortly before the 41st edition of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. “Overall, we have seen excellent tennis. We are very satisfied with the week,” said Günthardt. Including the Fed Cup semi-final between Germany and the Czech Republic (1:4) the weekend before, a total of 43,000 spectators came to the Porsche Arena on nine days.
The organizers also received great praise from the players’ association WTA. “This event is of grand slam quality,” WTA President Micky Lawler emphasized: “It’s a highlight.” The event had been voted the most popular tournament on the professional tour nine times in the past ten years.
The only drawback this time: For the first time since 2014, no German players reached the quarter-finals of the indoor sand court tournament, which is endowed with 816,000 dollars. “From a German perspective, we have simply been lucky in recent years. Nevertheless, the atmosphere in the hall was excellent,” said Günthardt with a view to the latest list of female winners. Angelique Kerber (Kiel) had triumphed in Stuttgart in 2015 and 2016 respectively – and then local hero Laura Siegemund (Metzingen) in the past season.
Eight players from the top ten competed in the 41st edition – and 16 from the top 20: “It is the strongest tournament in the world, with a field of 28 players and only eight seeded players. You can compare it to the second week of a Grand Slam,” said the tournament director from Switzerland.
The two-time Major winner Kerber had been injured in the round of 16 due to a thigh injury. Siegemund, only recovered from a cruciate ligament rupture, also lost against finalist Coco Vandeweghe (USA) despite a strong performance in the round of the last 16.
Julia Görges, Porsche Grand Prix Champion of 2011, surprisingly lost in the first round. Against 18-year-old qualifier Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic), who left her mark in the Swabian metropolis just like 15-year-old Marta Kostyuk (Ukraine).
“The next generation knocks on the door,” Günthardt described the status quo. The day of the last sixteen had been hard on the organisers. In Vondrusova, Kerber and Wimbledon winner Garbine Muguruza (Spain/No. 2) three players had to give up one after the other on the Centre Court. “I have never experienced anything like this either in my active career or in my function as sports director,” said former professional Anke Huber about Black Thursday: “But that’s sport.