Goerges wins Stuttgart championship

The German fans in Stuttgart got to see two of their countrywomen pick up trophies and bouquets today at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. German wild card Sabine Lisicki and her partner, Sam Stosur, won the doubles championsip when they defeated the all-German team of Kristina Barrois and Jasmin Woehr 6-1, 7-6.

Julia Goerges got more than a trophy and flowers. She not only won her first premier WTA event, but she did it by defeating the world number 1. She was given a shiny silveer Porsche, too, which she drove across the court after her 7-5, 6-3 victory.

Goerges has played great tennis all week. She took out Lisicki in the quarterfinals, and 5th seed Stosur in the semifinals. (She was also the recipient of a second round retirement from the ever-fragile Victoria Azarenka.) The match against Stosur was an especially good one, and Goerges had to push herself both mentally and physically to overcome the 5th seed. Today, playing in the biggest match of her career, she kept a cool head, served extremely well, and forced errors from Caroline Wozniacki by repeatedly throwing the Dane off of her rhythm and targeting the Wozniacki forehand.

The unseeded German won 72% of her first serve points, and 65% of her second serve points (she also won 72% of her first serve points against Stosur, and 68% against Lisicki); she hit 38 winners to 29 unforced errors. Strong on both sides, Goerges was aggressive throughout both sets, and wasn't afraid to go to the net to finish points.

The Stuttgart tournament is played indoors, so we will all be watching Goerges to see if she can maintain her progress outdoors on red clay. In Charleston, the clay surface is faster than it is in Europe, and Goerges ran hot and cold on it. Her forehand was in top form at the Family Circle Cup, but she also experienced what appeared to be mental lapses during some of her games. On the other hand, Charleston is the first tournament of the clay season, and it isn't unusual to see players struggle to make the adjustment from hard courts.

Goerges won the Bad Gastein title in 2009, and she is now 2-1 in finals. Wozniacki has yet to win a title on red clay. The world number 1, however, owns 16 titles, including the 2011 green clay event in Charleston. Goerges is the the second German to win in Stuttgart. Anke Huber won the tournament on an indoor hard court in 1991 and 1994.

Stosur goes to first semifinal of the season in Stuttgart

The phrases "Vera Zvonareva" and "broken racquet" go together in the lexicon of women's professional tennis, but today in Stuttgart, it was a case of Vera Zvonareva and broken strings. The 2nd seed's strings broke repeatedly, sometimes more than once during a game. At one point, she had to use her coach's racquet. And for the sixth time in a row, Stosur beat her. The 5th seed--who is again showing signs that clay is the surface on which she is most comfortable--won 2-6, 6-3, 7-6, and will play Julia Goerges in the semifinals.

Goerges, who is the last German standing, broke countrywoman Sabine Lisicki at 4-all in both the first and second set, and walked away with a 6-4, 6-4 win. She and Andrea Petkovic lost in the doubles quarterfinals, however. They were defeated in straight sets by wild cards Stosur and Licsicki.

A lot of people probably expected Andrea Petkovic to be the last German standing. On paper, she should be. The "old Petkovic" used to choke away leads, and--just when we thought she had been banished--she showed up today in Stuttgart. Petkovic was up 4-1, 40-0 in the first set, and somehow managed to lose it 4-6. After that, top seed Caroline Wozniacki simply took over; Petkovic won one game in the second set.

Wozniacki's opponent in the semifinals will be Agnieszka Radwanska. I really wanted to watch Radwanska's match against Kristina Barrois because I so enjoy both of their games. In the middle of the first set, though, I had to leave. Radwanska won, 7-5, 6-3.

4 German players in Stuttgart quarterfinals

Four players from Germany have reached the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Today, in second round play, wild card Kristina Barrois upset 8th seed Marion Bartoli, defeating her 6-4, 6-2. Another wild card, Sabine Lisicki, upset 6th seed Li Na, and Andrea Petkovic defeated 7th seed (and former Stuttgart champion) Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 6-1, 6-3. Petkovic needed five match points to make it to the quarterfinals, but she hung in and prevailed.

Also today, 4th seed Victoria Azarenka retired against Julia Goerges. Azarenka won the first set 6-4, then had to stop playing because of a right shoulder injury.

Kristina Barrois was not content to advance just in singles She and partner Jasmin Woehr took out top seeds Liezel Huber and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in straight sets in the doubles quarterfinals.

Barrois's next opponent will be Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated 3rd seed Francesca Schiavone. Lisicki and Goerges will play one another, and Petkovic will face top seed Caroline Wozniacki. The other quarterfinal will be played between 5th seed Sam Stosur and 2nd seed Vera Zvonareva.

Players talk about Stuttgart

Henin wins Stuttgart title, Dulko & Pennetta win in doubles

In Stuttgart, Justine Henin, playing as a wild card, reached her third final since returning to the tour, and this one went her way. Henin defeated Sam Stosur 6-4, 2-6, 6-1 in a match that had its ups and downs for both players. Both played very well in the first set, but Henin was able to get a crucial break. In the second set, Stosur escaped breaks twice, and gained so much momentum that she was able to dominate Henin--who made a series of unforced errors--6-2.

The third set was up for grabs, and Henin, consistently taking the ball very quickly, grabbed it with a stunning display of tennis. This display included a series of the kind of volleys that are really difficult to execute, yet Henin makes them look so easy. There were a few good rallies--one in particular--near the end of the match, but there was little that Stosur could do about Henin's combination of aggression and precision.

In doubles, the number 1 seeds, Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, backed up their big Miami win with a 3-6, 7-6, 10-5 victory over 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik.

Henin now has 42 singles titles.

This is Dulko's eleventh doubles title, and Pennetta's eighth; it is the fifth title for Dulko and Pennetta as a team.

Stosur to play Henin in Stuttgart final

Nothing could have been more appropriate for today's Stuttgart semifinal match between Anna Lapushchenkova and Sam Stosur than the "old newsreel" highlights shown at the end, to the sounds of the William Tell Overture. The match was a series of breaks, errors, chokes, and assorted odd moments that made it a bit hard to watch, even if you didn't care who won it.

Lapushchenkova really needs to do something about her serve. She committed 10 double-faults in the semifinal match, giving her a total of 63 for the 7 matches she played in Stuttgart. Considering how off the 7th seed's game was today, one could reasonably say that the Russian's double-faulting cost her the match. She was up 4-1, then 5-2, in the first set, served for it twice, and lost it 5-7. In the second set, Stosur picked up her level, and Lapushchenkova pretty much went to pieces. Stosur won that set 6-3.

It's easy to understand why most of Lapushchenkova's ITF wins have been on clay; she is better at breaking than holding. The Russian qualifier did have a very good tournament, though, and we certainly won't forget some of those backhand shots any time soon.

"Attitude and composure--what is this about?" Stosur was asked about the two words printed on her wristband. "It's not what I did today," she quipped. Stosur gets a bit of a pass, however, since she had never before played Lapushchenkova, and since most players do not hit the ball so flat, especially on clay.

In the other semifinal, wild card Justine Henin ended Shahar Peer's great Stuttgart run, defeating her 6-3, 6-2. Peer took out both Agnieszka Radwanska and Dinara Safina, but she wasn't able to overcome Henin.

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is generally considered the players' favorite tournament because it is so well organized and so entertaining. As a viewer, I also enjoy it, but unfortunately--between the giant banners with the Stepford players' unrecognizable "sexy" tour photos and the horrible "GIRLS, SET & MATCH" slogan--it is also the most blatantly sexist in its marketing.

So who is Anna Lapushchenkova?

Many of us had heard the name "Lapushchenkova," but had never seen the player until today, when she reached the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Anna Lapushchenkova is a 23-year-old Russian who plays right-handed, with a (serious) two-handed backhand. Lapushchenova began playing in ITF tournaments in 2002, but did not play regularly until 2005.

The new semifinalist has won ten ITF events, six of which were played on clay. She played in her first Sony Ericsson WTA tour main draw in 2007, and has continued to play in ITF tournaments. Lapushchenkova is ranked number 138 in the world; at the end of 2009, she was ranked number 172. Her career-high ranking was 95, which she attained in the summer of 2008.

In Stuttgart, Lapushchenkova has now defeated Olga Govorstova, 6th seed Victoria Azarenka and Lucie Safarova. She has also double-faulted 52 times--25 in her three qualifying matches, and 27 in her three main draw rounds.

Henin--10, Jankovic, 0

I was able to watch only parts of 4th seed Jelena Jankovic's Stuttgart quarterfinal match today against wild card Justine Henin, but what I saw was really good. Many of us have been waiting for these two to meet again, since Jankovic had never defeated Henin in Henin's first WTA career. Jankovic won the first set today, but Henin won the second in a tiebreak, then eventually won the match. Both players received very appreciative applause from the crowd, but that probably didn't do too much for Jankovic, who is now 0-10 against the Belgian. Henin's 3-6, 7-6, 6-3 victory puts her into the semifinals against Shahar Peer.

Peer upset 2nd seed Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2. This upset isn't too surprising, given that Safina has been away for quite a while, and Peer can be very tough.

7th seed and wild card Sam Stosur defeated Li Na 6-3, 6-3. Stosur once again walked away with excellent service stats, though Li's weren't too shabby, either. Stosur will play the surprise semifinalist, Anna Lapushchenkova.

Lapushchenkova, a qualifier who has now played six matches, defeated Lucie Safarova 7-6 (1), 1-6, 6-1. Lapushchenkova double-faulted 13 times, often because she tried to go for too much on her second serve. On the other hand (literally), she smacked a number of stunning backhand winners. Lapushchenkova hit the ball really flat, posting 28 winners to 36 unforced errors. When she won, she displayed almost no affect, even after the handshake. During her interview (with one of my favorite interviewers, though his name escapes me), she was sheepish and anxious. This is new territory for her, obviously. Her coach, however, was elated, and even gave her a kiss on the cheek.

Lapushchenkova had chances to win the first set much sooner, but she did not do so, probably because of lack of experience. She even dropped a set point, but she didn't let that stop her from totally dominating Safarova in the tiebreak.

In the doubles quarterfinals, 2nd seeds Kveta Peschke and Katarina Srebotnik (I really like that they're playing together) defeated Sarah Borwell and Raquel Kops-Jones, and 3rd seeds Cara Black and Shahar Peer defeated Alexandra Dulgheru and Agnes Szavay.

Safina wins first match in Stuttgart

Dinara Safina made her official return to the tour today and won her first match in Stuttart. The 2nd seed defeated Agnes Szavay 7-6, 3-6, 6-0.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki was upset in straight sets by Lucie Safarova, and 6th seed Victoria Azarenka was also defeated in straight sets, by Anna Lapuschenkova. Both Wozniacki and Azarenka have recently sustained injuries.

8th seed Yanina Wickmayer also went out, 6-3, 7-5, at the hands of wild card and countrywoman Justine Henin.

The top doubles seeds, Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, won their quarterfinal match, defeating Liezel Huber and Jelena Jankovic.

In Fes, 2nd seed Patty Schnyder was defeated 6-2, 7-6 by Simona Halep. Schnyder was two points from winning the second set when Halep broke her. Also upset was 5th seed Angelique Kerber, who lost to Renata Voracova.

Kuznetsova and Radwanska both upset in Stuttgart 2nd round

Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 3rd in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, was defeated 6-3, 7-5 today in the second round by Li Na. 5th seed Agnieszka Radwanska also went out in the second round. She was defeated 6-7, 6-3, 6-2 by Shahar Peer.

Flavia Pennetta, Marion Bartoli, Francesca Schiavone, and Gisela Dulko were all defeated in the first round.

Meanwhile, in Fes, top seed Carla Suarez Navarro retired in her second round match against Anne Keothavong. Suarez Navarro sprained her right ankle. 2nd seed Patty Schnyder won her match against Ioana Raluca Olaru, and will play Simona Halep in the next round.

Defending champion Anabel Medina Garrigues, who was seeded 3rd, was upset in the second round by Laura Pous Tio.

Clijsters withdraws from Stuttgart

Kim Clijsters has withdrawn from the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which begins Monday. Venus Williams has withdrawn, also.

Mattek-Sands and Petrova win Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Friends Gisela Dulko and Flavia Pennetta, who have played doubles together on and off for many years, teamed up again this week in Stuttgart, and made it all the way to the final. They were defeated today, however, by Charleston champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova, who won the title with a score of 5-7, 6-3, 10-7. Both teams were unseeded.

Kuznetsova wins Stuttgart

Anyone on the tour would be hard pressed to surpass the quality of Svetlana Kuznetsova's performance in today's Stuttgart final. To be fair, the first set featured high quality play from both Kuznetsova and her opponent, Dinara Safina. Serving at 4-5, however, Safina made errors which Kuznetsova easily exploited to take the set. The second set was a Kuznetsova serving and returning clinic, with Safina unable to stop her countrywoman's domination of the court. Kuznetsova won the match, 6-4, 6-3, and hit 29 winners to Safina's 16.

This was Kuznetsova's first title win in over a year and a half. If she can keep this level of play going, she will once again be a major clay court threat.

Stuttgart tennis--all about design

I don't like everything about the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix's design--I think the supposedly sexy airbrushed giant photos look terrible, and of course, I do not care at all for the tournament's slogan "Girls, Set & Match." But in a general way, I like the design idea of the Stuttgart tournament. It looks like someone actually cared enough to make the tournament special, and not just because there is a Porsche on display all the time.

I like the music, and I like the idea that you can listen to it and download it. I also like the man who does the post-match interviews. He can be very entertaining; who can forget his cruising around with Jankovic in the red Porsche last year? On Tennis TV--and I assume on European television--after each major match, the highlights are shown in black and white--and not only in black and white, but in old newsreel format. Also, the really nice desktop wallpapers are all black and white, too.

I did have trouble viewing some of the videos on the site (they stopped playing prematurely), but I was able to see them all, and many more, on the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix YouTube Channel.

Most tournament organizers simply do not add these extra touches, so I appreciate them when I see and hear them.

Thrill Ride starts her red clay antics early

During the first set of her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix semifinal, Flavia Pennetta exhibited beautifully controlled aggression against Dinara Safina's out-of-control aggression. Pennetta took that set 6-3, and continued to overcome Safina with a combination of power and precision for the first half of the second set. But Safina--whom I nicknamed "Thrill Ride" after her roller coaster European clay court run last year--finally got control of her wild impulses.

At 3-6, 4-5, she served a love game. Pennetta went up 40-15 in her next game, and Safina saved a game point. At 40-30, Pennetta double-faulted, and an argument could be made that that double-fault was the costliest error she committed in the match. Safina broke her on her second break point, and then held to take the second set 7-5.

The third set was simply the Safina show, as the world number 1 and top seed executed just the right amounts of power, precision and touch to win the set 6-0. She had a lot of help from Pennetta, who simply went away. I was hoping for a rousing third set, and was disappointed to see the match become so one-sided.

Safina will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. I was unable to watch Kuznetsova's semifinal match against Elena Dementieva, but my understanding is that she played superbly, defeating the 2nd seed 6-4, 6-2.

Safina, Kuznetsova and Dementieva go to Stuttgart semifinals

Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded number 5, won her Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinal match against Gisela Dulko, 6-3, 6-2, today, to go to the semifinals. She will play 2nd seed Elena Dementieva, who defeated Marion Bartoli, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3.

The other semifinal will be played between Flavia Pennetta and 1st seed Dinara Safina, who defeated Agnieszka Radwanska, 6-4, 6-2.

Black and Huber upset in Stuttgart

Charleston champions Bethanie Mattek-Sands and Nadia Petrova upset top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber in Stuttgart today, 7-5, 4-6, 10-7. Mattek-Sands and Petrova will play 3rd seeds Virginia Ruano Pascual and Zheng Jie in the semifinals.

Flavia to JJ: "No white Porsche for you"

Jelena Jankovic said that she is so fond of the red Porsche she won in Stuttgart last year, that--if she defended her title--she might again opt for the car instead of the prize money. Thanks to Flavia Pennetta, Jankovic will not have to make that decision. Though she sometimes stumbled and wobbled, the Italian outserved and outwitted the defending champion to win their quarterfinal match, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Pennetta was visibly nervous in the first set, which Jankovic took easily, but the Italian found her footing in the second. The third set of this entertaining match was a test of nerves. Pennetta immediately went up a break, and held a couple of break points when Jankovic served at 0-2. She then became tight and and made enough unforced errors to give Jankovic the game. Jankovic broke back, but Pennetta broke again. At 5-3, Jankovic served a love game, and it would not have been surprising to see her opponent get tight again, serving for the match. But that didn't happen; instead, Pennetta brought her best serves, and easily closed the semifinal match at love. She hit a total of thirty-two winners, and broke Jankovic's serve five times.

Pennetta, by the way, is driving a silver Porsche this week. She doesn't get to keep it; it is a loan from the Porsche Museum, which she visited.

Jankovic wins thriller in Stuttgart

I was not able to tune into this match until it was 5-all in the first set, and I had to stop watching it at 3-all in the third (work keeps getting in the way of my tennis viewing). Needless to say, I was very disappointed to have to leave the screen, for this match was as exciting as I had expected it to be. Both players took advantage of every break point afforded them; Jelena Jankovic broke five times, and wild card Sabine Lisicki broke four. It was thrilling, at times, to see the angles created by both players, and it was impressive to see how far Jankovic has come since the beginning of the season. She won this match--7-5, 5-7, 6-3--with the crowd solidly behind her opponent, and her opponent has plenty of which to be proud.

Top seed Dinara Safina defeated Daniela Hantuchova, 6-4, 6-2. Hantuchova had won their last three contests, though Safina had won the only other time they played on clay. Second seed Elena Dementieva defeated Agnes Szavay 7-6, 6-1, Agnieszka Radwanska defeated qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova 6-3, 6-3, and Svetlana Kuznetsova defeated Li Na 4-6, 6-4, 7-5.

There were also two upsets. Flavia Pennetta, who is obviously turning her season around, upset 6th seed Nadia Petrova 6-2, 6-2, and Marion Bartoli upset 7th seed Caroline Wozniacki, 7-6, 6-4. This means, of course, that Wozniacki and Dementieva will not meet in Stuttgart. Wozniacki defeated Dementieva in both Miami and Charleston.

Dulko takes Azarenka out of Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

No player on the tour runs more hot and cold than Gisela Dulko. When she's hot (meaning, when she brings her good serve) and playing on clay, she can cause major problems for higher-ranked players. Victoria Azarenka found that out today in Stuttgart, where Dulko, putting a great deal of spin on almost every ball she struck, broke the 2nd seed six times to win their second round match 6-4, 6-3.

Dulko hits the ball much harder than her small frame would indicate, and she knows her way around a clay court. She is another player who, in my opinion, should be ranked higher than she is, but her inconsistency keeps her hovering in the 30s and 40s. She is currently ranked number 34 in the world.

Patty Schnyder, a player who has not been bringing her best serve to her matches lately, did much better in that department today, and played a good match against Sabine Lisicki; however, Lisicki defeated her, 6-4, 6-3.

Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic pretty much ran over Dominika Cibulkova, breaking her five times, and never giving Cibulkova a break opportunity. Cibulkova's thigh was heavily strapped, and she took a medical time-out during the match, which Jankovic won, 6-1, 6-1.

Both Flavia Pennetta and Daniela Hantuchova repeated their Fed Cup wins over Anna Chakvetadze and Alize Cornet, and repeated them with similar scorelines.

All of the above matches were first round contests except for the Dulko-Azarenka match, which took place in the second round.

The other big upset today was in doubles. 2nd seeds Daniela Hantuchova and Ai Sugiyama were defeated, 4-6, 6-2, 10-7, by Abigail Spears and Sun Tiantian.