Tennis: Julia Goerges Advances, Vena Zvonareva Upset in Stuttgart

Tennis Now!

Four Germans made it into the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinals in Stuttgart, Germany, but only one made it to the semifinals for her first time. That was 22-year-old Julia Goerges. Goerges faced another fellow German in the draw, Sabine Lisicki, and won in two sets 6-4, 6-4 to face Samantha Stosur in the semifinals. 

Top-ranked German player Andrea Petkovic fell to World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki for the second time this year, 6-4, 6-1. The last German to fall was Kristina Barrios. Barrios had a grueling two-hour match against Polish Agnieszka Radwanska, in which the score—7-5, 6-3—did not indicate the great fight.  

According to the tournament website, "the last time it happened was in 1984 when Eva Pfaff, Claudia Kohde, Steffi Graf and Bettina Bunge reached the last eight. Two of them Steffi Graf and Claudia Kohde also faced each other in an all-German encounter for a place in the 1984 semifinals...The winner’s car in 1984 was, like it is this year, a Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. But the prize money was a little more modest: 150.000 Dollar."

Radwanska and Wozniacki will face off in the semifinal. Wozniacki leads their head-to-head series against Radwanska, 3-1. The other semifinal match will be played versus Goerges and Stosur. Stosur seemed to have her feet moving well on court again after dismal results this year when she upset second-seed Vera Zvonareva 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(3) and saved 11 of 14 break points. 

Interestingly, Goerges leads the head-to-head series against Stosur 1-0 when she beat her in Tokyo last year.

Goerges said to the media of her upcoming opponent Stosur, "She’s a very strong player and stood in the finals of the French Open and here in Stuttgart last year. She can be a really awkward player to play against on clay so I’ll definitely be the outsider. But I’ve got so far that the match against Stosur is a bonus for me."

Tennis Now!