Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Angelique Kerber with a tough draw - four German qualifiers are there
Angelique Kerber caught a difficult draw at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Great: a total of eight starters from Germany made it into the main field!
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Apr 18, 2021, 06:06 pm
Angelique Kerber starts with the lucky loser Ekaterine Gorgodze - a manageable task. But then the first big hit would come in round 2: Elina Svitolina seeded at four!
Ashleigh Barty, who benefits from a bye at the beginning, is top seed in Stuttgart. Barty is waiting for the winner of the match between local hero Laura Siegemund (winner 2017) and Mona Barthel , who made it through the qualification. No matter who wins: This time you can't rely on direct fan support, spectators are not in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart this year.
Andrea Petkovic , with a wildcard in the main field, meets Maria Sakkari, also not an easy lot: The Greek, currently number 19 in the world, has already had three semi-finals at WTA level this year, most recently at the 1000 tournament in Miami.
Schunk, Barthel, Friedsam and Middendorf create qualifications
Great, however: four German players made their way through the qualification - in addition to Barthel, Nastasja Schunk , who eliminated Noma Noha Akugue 6-0, 6-4. Akugue surprised on Saturday with a victory over top 100 player Margarita Gasparyan . In round 1, Schunk meets the eighth seeded Belinda Bencic.
Anna-Lena Friedsam , who will meet fellow qualifier Ulrikke Eikeri, also made it into the main field. Likewise Julia Middendorf , who can compete with 2019 finalist Anett Kontaveit. Tamara Korpatsch is also there as a lucky loser, she meets 2018 winner Karolina Pliskova.
A great duel in round 1: Defending champion Petra Kvitova meets Jennifer Brady, who last made it to the final of the Australian Open!