Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Legendary winning car - now fully electric and sustainable!
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix has been the tennis event with the most attractive prize for more than 40 years. In the meantime, the winner is driving fully electric and thus sustainably from Stuttgart!
by Florian Goosmann
last edit: Mar 20, 2023, 05:37 am
Anke Huber had a little problem after her victory in Filderstadt. In the 1991 final, the Karlsdorfer had just surprisingly beaten Martina Navratilova and thus secured a Porsche 968 Cabriolet. The problem? Huber was only 16 - and a driver's license was still a dream of the future.
She wasn't the first and only one: Tracy Austin, who won the first time in 1978 and ultimately won four times at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, won at the age of 15, of course without a driver's license. Martina Hingis, once a Swiss child prodigy, won her first of four titles at the age of 17. And Karolina Pliskova in 2018? Despite her 26 years, she still had an appointment with the examination office.
A brand new Porsche instead of filthy cash: It has always been the great appeal of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Record winner Martina Navratilova had a whole fleet of vehicles at home at the end of her career. She was already in possession of a driver's license when she won her first victory, but the transport of her winning cars was always a bit complicated, after all, the Porsche first had to make it across the pond to the USA...
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"There's always room for a Porsche!"
In 1986, Navratilova even got two cars: one given to her friend Judy Nelson for her 30th birthday, which she celebrated later that week; another won Navratilova regular in the final. All in all, the "grande dame of tennis" has six victories in Filderstadt. (Tournament founder Dieter Fischer gave her a farewell Porsche at the end of her career in 1994.)
None of the winners seemed to have any problems with possible pitches. Maria Sharapova, winner in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and long since a Porsche brand ambassador, summed it up after her second victory when asked if her garage was getting tight: "There's always room for a Porsche!"
The German winners after Huber, i.e. Julia Görges (2011) and Angelique Kerber (2015, 2016) - now also brand ambassadors - are now happy Porsche drivers, as is Laura Siegemund (2017) .
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"Swap Boxster for Carrera!"
It is well known that in Filderstadt and Stuttgart the players' every wish is read from their lips - keyword "bedtime treats" that Dieter Fischer always put in the hotel room of the players. But also as far as the choice of car is concerned: When Martina Hingis won a Porsche Boxster S in 2000, she came around the corner with an unusual request: “I would like to exchange the Boxster for a Carrera.” Of course, her wish was granted.
How did it come about offering a car as a prize? Dieter Fischer, who had the actual idea of a tournament on the fields of Filderstadt in the late 1970s, initially got nowhere with many sponsors. The tennis world elite in tranquil Filderstadt? “Crazy” was the general verdict. Lars Schmidt, who was head of sales at Porsche AG at the time, was the first to like the idea. "I have him to thank for the tournament," says Fischer.
#GALLERY#
The all-electric winning Porsche has been around since 2021!
The winners always gratefully accepted the Porsche. Racing driver Hans-Joachim "Strietzel" Stuck even had the honor of driving the prize onto the course, not without warning from the winner. "Just watch my car," Pam Shriver threatened him in 1986. Nowadays, that pleasure is mostly left to the players themselves - emphasis on "mostly", see Pliskova. A problem? No. The Czech was chauffeured to the place by someone who knew the winning car better than almost anyone else: the CEO of Porsche AG, Oliver Blume.
In the past two years, the world number ones have won - Ashleigh Barty in 2021 and Iga Swiatek in 2022. Barty was the first player to pull away from Stuttgart fully electric and thus very sustainably.
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Sights for 2023: a Porsche Taycan Turbo S Sport Turismo
This will also be the case in 2023: The winner of the 46th Porsche Tennis Grand Prix can take home a Neptune blue Porsche Taycan Turbo S Sport Turismo. A grand prize that electrifies: The practical all-rounder among electric sports cars impresses with superior performance and a long range. "The most beautiful winner's trophy on the WTA Tour" (quote from the two-time winner Angelique Kerber about the main prize) will, as usual, be clearly visible on a pedestal on Center Court throughout the entire tournament week.
More motivation is not possible.
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Further information on the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2023:
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Gauff and Raducanu complete the field of top participants
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Sabalenka and Swiatek serve in Stuttgart
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Iga Swiatek will also serve in Stuttgart in 2023
