Auf einen Blick
- Top seeds Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff both won their opening matches in the Porsche Arena in convincing fashion.
- Mirra Andreeva, Karolina Muchova, Linda Noskova and Leylah Fernandez also booked their places in the last eight on Thursday.
- With local hero Laura Siegemund losing in the doubles, the last remaining German has exited the tournament.
- Friday in the Porsche Arena promises highly attractive quarterfinals featuring three Grand Slam champions.
Friday is quarterfinals day at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The six remaining places in the last eight were decided on Thursday in the sold-out Porsche Arena. Two favourites for the title, Elena Rybakina and Coco Gauff, also entered the fray on Centre Court. Top-seeded Rybakina, the reigning Australian Open champion and winner of the 2024 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, beat Diana Shnaider 6-3, 6-4. The Kazakh was highly satisfied with her first clay court match of the season. “My serve was working really well today,” she said, “and apart from that I’m very happy with my performance.” Coco Gauff is also through to the quarterfinals. The French Open champion got off to a slow start against Liudmila Samsonova, but then upped her game to eventually win 7-5, 6-1. “I started slowly,” said the 22-year-old American, “It’s better to start a match more confidently than I did today.”
The other last 16 matches also treated the spectators to superb tennis and plenty of spectacular rallies. Karolina Muchova dropped the opening set against Elise Mertens, but then found her rhythm to secure a quarterfinal berth with a 1-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory. Mirra Andreeva, the winner in Linz a week ago, continued her successful streak when beating qualifier Alycia Parks 7-6(3), 6-3. “I felt good physically and really wanted to win in straight sets again,” said the 18-year-old before conducting the Centre Court crowd to sing “Happy Birthday” for her coach Conchita Martinez. Linda Noskova defeated last year’s semifinalist Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-1, 6-1. In the final and longest - 3 hours 7 minutes - match of an eventful day of tennis, the former US Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez was forced to go the distance before overcoming the strong qualifier Zeynep Sonmez 6-7 (2) 6-1, 7-6 (5).
Quarterfinal day featuring three Grand Slam champions
A highly attractive quarterfinal line-up with intriguing encounters awaits Friday’s crowd in the Porsche Arena. Five Top 10 players, including three Grand Slam champions in Elena Rybakina, Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek, will be in action. First off will be Linda Noskova against Elina Svitolina and they will be followed by Karolina Muchova’s encounter with Coco Gauff. Two-time Stuttgart winner Iga Swiatek will then face Mirra Andreeva before Elena Rybakina and Leylah Fernandez go head to head for the fourth semifinal spot.
Thursday’s results
2nd Round, singles
[7] K. Muchova (CZE) vs E. Mertens (BEL) 1-6, 6-3, 6-0
[6] M. Andreeva vs [Q] A. Parks (USA) 7-6 (3), 6-3
L. Noskova (CZE) vs [8] E. Alexandrova vs 6-1, 6-1
[1] E. Rybakina (KAZ) vs D. Shnaider 6-3, 6-4
[2] C. Gauff (USA) vs L. Samsonova vs 7-5, 6-1
L. Fernandez (CAN) vs [Q] Z. Sonmez (TUR) 6-7 (2), 6-1, 7-6 (5)
2nd Round, doubles
[2] E. Perez (AUS)/D. Schuurs (NED) vs A. Panova/Z. Yang (CHN)
7-6 (5), 6-4
[1] J. Ostapenko (LAT)/S. Zhang (CHN) vs L. Siegemund (GER)/V. Zvonareva
6-4, 6-3
U. Eikeri (NOR)/Q. Gleason (USA) vs A. Parks (USA)/A. Smith (USA)
7-6 (5), 4-6,10-6
Order of Play, Friday
Centre Court
Starting at 12.30 hrs
L. Noskova (CZE) vs [4] E. Svitolina (UKR)
Not before 14.00 hrs
[7] K. Muchova (CZE) vs [2] C. Gauff (USA)
Not before 17.00 hrs
[3] I. Swiatek (POL) vs [6] M. Andreeva
Not before 18:30 hrs
[1] E. Rybakina (KAZ) vs L. Fernandez (CAN)
Porsche in tennis
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is the flagship of the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG‘s worldwide involvement in women’s tennis. First played in 1978, the Stuttgart WTA tournament stands for tradition and innovation, just like 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. Porsche has also 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.
