Three Grand Slam winners in the semi-finals of the top division

Set in the sold-out Porsche Arena: the semi-finals and three Grand Slam winners – something that even die-hard tennis fans don’t get to see every year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The quarterfinals gave a taste of what to expect on Saturday with high-level and hard-fought matches: three of the four games on center court were decided only in the third set, and all matches lasted more than two hours. Confirmation of the best line-up once again of the traditional Stuttgart competition.

Elena Rybakina bought her ticket to the semi-finals in the first match of the day. The world number four player from Kazakhstan converted her first match point after 2:08 to make it 6:3, 5:7, 6:3 against the strong Italian Jasmine Paolini. “Despite losing the set, it was a good game for me overall,” said Rybakina, who reached the semifinals for the first time in her third appearance in Stuttgart. “I hope I can go far here. Winning a Porsche would be the perfect incentive for me to get my driver’s license.

Marketa Vondrousova’s match was also close. The reigning Wimbledon champion and world No. 8 lost the first round to Australian Open winner Aryna Sabalenka, but improved from game to game. Finally he deserved to win 3:6, 6:3, 7:5. “I’m very happy with my performance today,” said the Czech, who never reached the last 16 in Stuttgart. “I started to play more aggressively in the second set and managed to stay in meetings longer. That was the key to success today.”

World number two Aryna Sabalenka, who has reached the final in each of the past three years, was given a warm farewell by the audience. Now he can realize his dream of winning a Porsche for a winner in 2025 at the earliest.

The meeting between Porsche friend Iga Swiatek and Porsche brand ambassador Emma Raducanu was the perfect match we expected. The first set went into a break, and the second set also opened for a long time. After more than two hours, the world number one favorite finally won 7:6(2), 6:3. The Pole, who is yet to lose a match at the Porsche Arena, is still aiming for a hat-trick of titles.

“That was a very intense game. I’m happy that I used my few chances,” said the four-time Grand Slam winner: “You could tell that he had nothing to lose, especially at the beginning. That’s why I had to play patiently. Fortunately it paid off.”

Marta Kostyuk remains the main fear of the tournament. After the 21-year-old Ukrainian already knocked out world number seven Qinwen Zheng (China) from the tournament on Thursday, her winning streak continued in the quarter-finals against 3rd seed Coco Gauff. After 2 hours: 48, world number 27 converted his eighth match point to make it 3:6, 6:4, 7:6(6). After his third three-set win this week and nearly nine hours of tennis, Kostyuk is the only player not to advance to the semifinals. “I really don’t know how I did it. In the end it was a few points that made the difference,” said the tired winner, who is in the last four for the third time in a row after San Diego and Indian Wells.

Laura Siegemund has to make the semifinals twice

Four players are still hoping to win the grand prize of the 47th Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the Porsche Taycan 4S Sport Turismo. In the first semi-final there will be a fight between Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina not before 2 pm. Marta Kostyuk and Marketa Vondrousova will then play in the second semi-final match. This game doesn’t start until 4 am.

One of the two semi-finals will take place before one of the qualifiers: from 12 pm Hao-Ching Chan (Taipei) and Veronika Kudermetova will face Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) and Shuai Zhang (China). The second semi-final will not take place after the 2nd seed Barbora Krejcikova from the Czech Republic and Laura Siegemund withdrew. An injury to his lower back forced the local hero from the German Porsche Team to miss the race. Due to the cancellation, Ulrikke Eikeri (Norway) and Ingrid Neel (Estonia) are already in the final, which will take place on Sunday after the individual final.