Anna-Lena Grönefeld at the WTA Finals in Shenzhen: "Every match a final"
At the WTA Finals in Shenzhen beat the most successful tennis players of the year. Anna-Lena Grönefeld of the Porsche Team Germany will be there. She plays in double with Dutchman Demi Schuurs - and celebrated a sensational opening win.
by Press release / Porsche
last edit: Oct 29, 2019, 10:03 pm
It was already midnight when Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Demi Schuurs started their first match at this prestigious final tournament on Monday at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center. Elise Mertens / Aryna Sabalenka (Belgium / Belarus), who won the title at the US Open this year, showed themselves against the winners of the doubles classification in the "Porsche Race to Shenzhen" and # 1 Wake wide awake at the start - and assert themselves with a strong performance 7: 5, 1: 6, 10: 7. The WTA Finals experienced their first big surprise.
"To start such a victory in this tournament is of course a dream," said Anna-Lena Grönefeld, who was reserved to transform the match ball. "We were very focused and never let ourselves be disturbed. When it mattered in the match-tiebreak, we took our chance. "
The world's elite among themselves
In Shenzhen, the world's elite is among themselves. Only the eight most successful single and double teams of the year have qualified for the season finale in the Chinese high-tech metropolis via the "Porsche Race to Shenzhen". For the second time since 2017 Anna-Lena Grönefeld belongs to this illustrious circle. The 34-year-old from Hanover was the only German to win the ticket to Shenzhen. A strong performance, because seldom before was the world leader in the doubles so balanced.
"We had to score very consistently in order to secure the starting position for Shenzhen," said Anna-Lena Grönefeld, who won the double title at the tournament in Charleston this season - but with the Polish girl Alicja Rosalska. As the? "Actually Demi and I had an appointment with other partners for this season. But then things did not work out as we had imagined. "It was already April, when they were together on the pitch for the first time, and they had already missed a quarter of the season. That at the end of eighth in the Porsche Race it was still sufficient for Shenzhen, so Anna-Lena Grönefeld, "shows that Demi and I have played a good season together."
# # IMG2
Double increasingly attractive
Not only the women's tennis itself, the women's double is also becoming more attractive. What has to do not least with the fact that good single players increasingly compete in doubles. The best example of this is Ashleigh Barty, the current world No. 1 and winner of the "Porsche Race to Shenzhen". The Australian has not only won the singles at the French Open this year, but also the double in Rome. "The level has definitely improved," confirms Anna-Lena Grönefeld, who has been playing doubles since 2012 and has won 17 WTA doubles so far in her career, including the 2008 and 2018 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.
The WTA Finals also take this positive development into account: If a doubles match ended earlier after only one defeat, this time - as well as in singles - there will be a group stage, so that each doubles will play at least three matches for the semi-finals. The spectators at the Shenzhen Bay Sports Center are delighted, and rightly so, the North German says: "In the doubles, they experience many quick rallies, good reactions on the net and tactical finesse. That's really fun. "
Good friends
She understands herself brilliantly with Demi Schuurs. Although one speaks a little Dutch and the other speaks a little German, they speak English in the square. The division of labor is also clearly regulated. "I'm pushing from the back, Demi plays the volleys on the net," said Anna-Lena Grönefeld, on whose long list of success also two Grand Slam victories in mixed doubles - 2009 in Wimbledon and 2014 at the French Open. For her, it is important that she gets along well with her partner outside of the place. As a pure business relationship between two professionals, as some of her colleagues do, that would not work for her. Not even with Demi Schuurs, Anna-Lena Grönefeld is sure. "We are good friends and we get along great," she says. "Everybody knows how the other one is ticking. You can feel that on the pitch. "
# # Img3
In Shenzhen, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Demi Schuurs want to "end our season with a good run in competition with the best double teams in the world." To survive the group stage, is their big goal. But getting that far will not be easy, they know that. "These WTA finals are also so double in the doubles, because every match is an endgame," says Anna-Lena Grönefeld, for whom even a premature trip home would not be a broken leg: "Alone that we made it to Shenzhen, is already a nice success. "
When she turned the match ball into their sensational opening win, it was long since Tuesday in Shenzhen - and there was no talk of a premature journey home.