Julia Görges surprisingly failed in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. One day after their victory at the tiebreak show event, the German number one lost her opening match against the qualifier Marketa Vondrousova (Czech Republic) in only 67 minutes with 2:6, 2:6.
By Ulrike Weinrich from Stuttgart
Görges won the 2011 indoor sand court event, this time endowed with 816,000 dollars, and, as always, was looking forward to her appearance in the Porsche Arena. “A tournament in Germany is always associated with more pressure, but also with more motivation,” said the 29-year-old, who scored the only point in the semi-final defeat of the Fed Cup team last weekend against the Czech Republic (4-1) in Stuttgart.
The two-set victory against world number six Karolina Pliskova and her awesome performance in the duel with the US Open finalist of 2016 should actually give “Jule” the decisive boost for her home game. “After this match, I went into the cabin with goose bumps. Because of such a mood I play tennis,” emphasized Görges, who should have played the fast surface in the Swabian metropolis into the cards: “The ground here is not a classic sand court, but feels more like a hard court with a layer of sand on it.
Görges had to prepare for a new opponent at short notice because Anastasia Sevastova (WTA No. 15) had to cancel her start due to a gastrointestinal disorder. Vondrousova also proved to be an uncomfortable opponent in the first duel between the two.
The 18-year-old left-hander made hardly any mistakes and seemed to keep up with the favourite’s pace effortlessly. Görges, however, could not rely on her serve as usual and had to hand in her service for 1:3. She didn’t seem as lively as usual, she couldn’t earn a break point throughout the entire season.
Vondrousova was the much more aggressive player, while Görges could often only react and seemed weak. Again and again she touched her left leg, at last she had slight abdominal muscle complaints. At the tournament in Doha in February, she suffered a hip injury, but in Charleston she was able to return to her strong form of the previous months with her participation in the final.
Symptomatically the second set point for Vondrousova after only half an hour, when a forehand slice ball of the woman from Regensburg sailed far out of the defence. At the beginning of the second round, Görges defended himself more and was cheered on by the spectators with “Jule” shouts. But even volleys, which she usually transforms with somnambulistic certainty, ended up in the net.
It became more and more obvious that Görges had had a pitch-black day. She was quickly trailing again with 1:4. She fought, but nothing came together in her opening encounter.
At the end of the second day of the tournament, defending champion Laura Siegemund (Metzingen) will meet the Czech Barbora Strycova. On Wednesday the two-time tournament winner Angelique Kerber (Kiel) will face Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova (Czech Republic/No. 8) (live from 6.30 pm at DAZN), against whom she had lost 2:6, 2:6 in the Fed Cup semi-final on Sunday.
Lucky Loser Carina Witthöft (Hamburg) will also play her opening main round match against Tsarina Diyas from Kazakhstan on Wednesday. Wildcard owner Antonia Lottner (Düsseldorf), who lost to 15-year-old qualifier Marta Kostyuk 4:6, 1:6, has already been eliminated.
The winner of the 41st edition of the event, which has been voted the best tournament on the tour nine times in the past ten years, will receive prize money of 140,193 dollars and a red sports car from the main sponsor.
Favourites in the top-class field include the world number one Simona Halep (Romania) and Wimbledon champion Garbine Muguruza (Spain). Eight top ten players compete in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
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