Tennis News

STUTTGART, Germany – The first major red clay tournament is about to reach its exciting conclusion with an all-German final to be contested between defending champion Angelique Kerber and Laura Siegemund – so here are 10 Things To Know about the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final.

Laura Siegemund (GER #71) vs. (2) Angelique Kerber (GER #3)
Head-To-Head: First meeting

1) History has already been made.
Since the tournament moved to Stuttgart from Filderstadt in 2006, there have never been two German women in the final, but with eight of the Top 9 Germans competing at their home tournament, perhaps the odds should have been more in their favor. While Kerber won the title in 2015 and started the season with an Australian Open crown, few tipped Laura Siegemund to come through qualifying and dismantle three Top 10 players (Simona Halep, Roberta Vinci, and Agnieszka Radwanska) without dropping a set.

2) Siegemund is playing career-defining tennis.
Unexpected as it might have ultimately been, there were certainly signs a run like was possible from Siegemund. Unseeded at the Australian Open, she upset former No.1 Jelena Jankovic to reach her first Grand Slam third round; the 28-year-old made a seamless transition to clay back in Charleston, upsetting 2015 finalist Madison Keys en route to the quarterfinals. Through seven matches in Stuttgart, Siegemund has yet to drop a set (14-0).

3) Kerber is close to her Melbourne form…
A brief lull following her Grand Slam triumph led to early losses at the Qatar Total Open and the BNP Paribas Open, but the World No.3 has been largely back at her best since the Miami Open, where she reached the semifinals. A viral illness halted her title defense in the semifinals of the Volvo Car Open, and her 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 win over Petra Kvitova on Saturday took her into her first final since the Australian Open.

4) …but will remain at No.3 on the WTA rankings.
Retiring in Charleston returned the No.2 ranking to Agnieszka Radwanska, who had briefly wrested the spot from Kerber after Indian Wells. Radwanska’s run to the semifinals keeps the No.2 ranking out of reach for now, but with neither defending too many points through Premier tournaments in Madrid and Rome, the race will be on for who will have their own half of the French Open draw across from 21-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams.

5) Kerber takes control of the Road to Singapore standings.
Outside the Top 2 on the 52-week rankings, Kerber continues making strides on the Road to Singapore standings; despite losing the top spot to Victoria Azarenka following the former No.1’s Sunshine Double, Kerber has made up lost ground while the Belarusian led her country to a win over Russia in Fed Cup. With a tour-leading 25 matches, Kerber is looking for her second title of 2016 in four finals after starting the year in back-to-back finals in Sydney and Melbourne.

6) Siegemund is up to a career-high ranking…
Starting the week as the No.8 German, Siegemund has leapfrogged countrywomen Mona Barthel, Julia Goerges, Anna-Lena Friedsam, and Sabine Lisicki to tentatively move into the Top 50 for the first time in her career at No.42. An even bigger leap could be in store should she win the title, but cracking the Top 4 in her country’s ranks has major implications for the upcoming Rio Olympic Games.

7) …and has experience in finals.
This may be her first WTA singles final, but Siegemund has had plenty of success on the ITF Circuit throughout her career, winning a whopping 11 Challenger titles – all on clay – since 2006 (though 10 have come in the last five years). Siegemund also reached four WTA doubles finals in 2015, winning three, with three different partners, and on three different surfaces (the Topshelf Open with Asia Muhammad, the Brasil Tennis Cup with Annika Beck, and the BGL BNP Luxembourg Open with Mona Barthel).

8) Kerber has hustled, Siegemund has flowed.
Through their main draw wins, Kerber has managed to spend 13 more more minutes on the court despite having a first round bye and the fact that Siegemund played an extra match. Siegemund’s most competitive set came in the first round against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, who surged ahead in the second set before the veteran closed out the Russian, 6-0, 7-5.

9) Kerber on clay.
The French Open is the only Grand Slam tournament where Kerber is yet to reach at least the semifinals, making one quarterfinal in 2012. Her first career clay court titles came back-to-back last spring, when she captured the Volvo Car Open and Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Kerber has never won a title on outdoor red clay, reaching only one final (Bogota, 2010).

10) Money, money money.
The winner of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title is set to take home 104,477 euros (or about 117,259 USD). Siegemund has already made just under a third of her career prize money in 2016 alone, while Kerber leads the season Prize Money rankings with 3,006,134 USD.

The boldest decision of Agnieszka Radwanska’s life was one with which many people will sympathise. It came when she was 19 years old -and decided to leave her parents’ house for a home of her own.

“The toughest decision in my life was moving out from home,” she revealed in an exclusive WTA interview. Looking back, she believes it was a great choice, which helped her to learn to become more independent.

“When I moved out I started a new life and made my own decisions in my own home,” she added.

Radwanska’s reflections mark the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day – ‘Be Bold For Change’.

The WTA World No.6, who celebrated her 28th birthday on Monday, is on a run of six consecutive WTA Top 10 year-end finishes. She soared up the rankings after turning pro in 2005 and enjoyed success at the BNP Paribas WTA Finals Singapore presented by SC Global in 2015. In addition, she was a finalist at Wimbledon in 2012 and has accumulated 20 WTA singles titles.

International Women’s Day falls on March 8 every year, and celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

Venus Williams says it’s superb but strange to be thought of as a trailblazer – and names the legendary Billie Jean King as the woman who inspires her.

In an interview with Forbes, she says: “It’s surreal [to be considered a leader] – but at the same time, it’s extremely motivating to know that people are watching and that it’s improving their work and their lives – so it’s symbiosis.”

The Australian Open runner-up was talking about her dual careers in tennis and in business – and suggested that there are plenty of parallels.

“Absolutely sports prepares you to set goals, to fail and to win in a way that you don’t know when you are doing it,” she said. “Business and athletics really marry each other. I can only see similarities.”

Of course she was asked about her rivalry with sister Serena – and that history-making final in Melbourne in January.

“When we play against each other each other, there can only be one winner,” she pointed out. “When I see her do something great, I want to do better.”