Julia Görges is ready for the B-WM in Zhuhai. “I’m looking forward to it,” says the 29-year-old. After winning the tournament in Luxembourg she is one of the big favourites in China. On Wednesday the Estonian Anett Kontaveit is waiting for Görges in her first group match.
Last year Görges was able to triumph in Zhuhai. She has great memories of the past year. Even then, the German won a tournament in the run-up to the event – in 2017 she won the title in Moscow. Not least because of the similar omens, she can be expected to win the tournament again this year.
What speaks for Görges is that she is in by far the best form among the qualified players alongside Aryna Sabalenka and Daria Kasatkina. A total of twelve participants will compete, including Garbine Muguruza and Madison Keys.
With the victory in Luxembourg a good week ago, the 14th of the WTA World Ranking also gained a lot of self-confidence for the Elite Trophy. “I tried to fight my way through it. It is very special to win in front of such an atmosphere and to go home with a title”, Görges was completely satisfied with her last tournament week.
Especially the serve worked very well in the final against the former top ten player Belinda Bencic. She lost three points after the first service. The main reason why Görges was not confronted with a break point during the whole match. Coupled with her aggressive baseline play, she gave the Swiss player little chance, especially in her own service games.
Furthermore, Görges showed an incredible fighting spirit in Luxembourg. In the semi-finals, Canada served Eugenie Bouchard to win the match, but Jule didn’t get up, broke Bouchard and won the match.
Should Görges bring these strengths back to the field in Zhuhai, China, nothing will stand in the way of the mission to defend the title. And who knows, maybe the Wimbledon semi-finalist will win another title after her second win of the season in Luxembourg to crown an outstanding season. As you know, all good things come in threes.
First opponent is Estonian Anett Kontaveit on Wednesday (8:00 CET/live at DAZN), who lost her first match against Elise Mertens 3:6, 1:6 on Tuesday. The Belgian then waits for Görges in the final match of the “Rose” group.