Porsche Tennis Grand Prix: Schunk with talent test against Bencic, Petkovic is subject to Sakkari
The first day in the main draw of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart turned out to be less than successful from a German point of view. Both Nastasja Schunk and Andrea Petkovic lost their difficult opener.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Apr 19, 2021, 08:08 pm
Even though the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix came to an end for Nastasja Schunk on Monday, the home tournament was still a complete success for the 17-year-old. The Mainz woman, who came into the main field via qualification, had to deal with a hammer lot in the first round of the WTA 500 event in Stuttgart. At the beginning Schunk met the world number twelfth Belinda Bencic.
In the early stages of this game, however, there was no sign of kneeling down in front of the Swiss woman's apparent superiority. The 17-year-old started bravely and was able to make the first round against Bencic quite open. Only a break should ultimately make the difference in favor of the Swiss, who put 6: 4 on 1: 0 sets. In the second round, however, Schunk had to acknowledge the superiority of Bencic - with 6: 2 the world number twelve made their opening victory perfect.
Sakkari too strong for Petkovic
The second German, who started in the main field of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Monday, also had to give up early. Because Andrea Pektovic, who is the former number nine in the women's tennis world, also got to do with the dangerous Greek Maria Sakkari, who had already won against the number two in the world, Naomi Osaka, this year.
It should develop into a somewhat one-sided game, especially since Sakkari had another extremely good day. The world rankings-19. dictated the game, managed to gain the break advantage early on and made it 1-0 with an undisputed 6: 2. In the second run it was again the Greek who should get the better start. Sakkari quickly pulled away to 5: 1.
Sakkari versus Kvitova?
Andrea Petkovic was able to shorten it again to 2: 5, but Sakkari finally put the lid on with his own serve. The 25-year-old will now probably have to deal with Petra Kvitova, who will have to defuse the hammerless Jennifer Brady - a finalist at the Australian Open only at the start of the year. Ash Barty will start the race as number one in Stuttgart, while Simona Halep is number two.
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