Stuttgart 2013

[Hoergren]

Well not too early to begin talking about the Stuttgart event which really start the red clay season although indoors. A strong field of players and only a few topplayers are missing. SO come with comments predictions , news, gossip, pictures, videoes to get us in the right mood

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

I wish Serena played here instead of Charleston. I get why she played Charleston, but I actually think Stuttgart provides more of a setting to what she will face in Paris and the players she will have to beat to raise the trophy a second time at Roland Garros.

 

[jhar26]

Could be interesting with Sharapova and Li in the draw. My money would be on one of them to win it. Errani is not impossible, but her record against players at the very top of the game is poor. Stosur is coming back from injury, so I don't expect much from her. It will also be interesting to see if Kerber and Wozniacki will continue to struggle or if they can get a few decent wins.

 

[10isfan]

Could be interesting with Sharapova and Li in the draw. My money would be on one of them to win it. Errani is not impossible, but her record against players at the very top of the game is poor. Stosur is coming back from injury, so I don't expect much from her. It will also be interesting to see if Kerber and Wozniacki will continue to struggle or if they can get a few decent wins.

I pick Li to win if she can stay mentally tough. If not, Pova probably will. Serena and Vika should play. The former could use the extra practice and the latter must be over her injury by now.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Here is the defending Champion with her prize.

 

[Hoergren]

If you need a little practise with Caroline and you are female between 12-18 - here is your chance

http://www.stuttgarter-nachrichten.de/inhalt.porsche-tennis-grand-prix-training-mit-tennisstar-wozniacki-gewinnen.040c1c78-179a-4aaa-b30d-8f397385f712.html

No sign of Serena taking part in Stuttgart

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Serena is playing Fed Cup this weekend, and we will next see her in Madrid I imagine.

 

[tossip]

I think it will serve Serena well to play Rome or Stuttgatt,Madrid is not real clay...

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Well unfortunately Madrid is mandatory. I would have preferred Rome be the mandatory event. That makes more sense. I think they made Madrid the mandatory tournament as it is right in between Stuttgart and Rome so it makes it a bit tough for players to claim they can't make Rome if they are already in Madrid or even really just play Stuttgart and Rome only schedule. Tiriac is the tournament owner as well, and he has money so I am sure that talked in making it mandatory. I bet if Serena could skip Madrid then she would probably do the Stuttgart/Rome schedule.

 

[colleen66]

I think it will serve Serena well to play Rome or Stuttgatt,Madrid is not real clay...

I agree. She needs to find her comfort level on red clay. She seems to do well on the other clay services.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I love the images from the event's home page.

website here:
http://www.porsche-tennis.de/prod/pag/tennis.nsf/web/english-home?OpenDocument

 

[jhar26]

I think it will serve Serena well to play Rome or Stuttgatt,Madrid is not real clay...

I agree. She needs to find her comfort level on red clay. She seems to do well on the other clay services.

Isn't Madrid played on 'real' red clay this year?

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Isn't Madrid played on 'real' red clay this year?

I read somwhere that they set the clay on top of concrete in Madrid, elsewhere it's clay all the way through to ground.

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Isn't Madrid played on 'real' red clay this year?

I read somwhere that they set the clay on top of concrete in Madrid, elsewhere it's clay all the way through to ground.

I think it is a mixture of gravel for drainage purposes and then clay on top. I think they had an issue with drainage last year which caused the clay to be slippery, so Nadal and Djokovic can whine about the clay itself if it doesn't work out again this year. I wish it was still blue. It was very nice on the eyes.

 

[Hoergren]

Julia Goerges has withdrawn from the German Fed cup team and is questionable for the WTA tournament in Stuttgart next week. Sorry for her - when she's fit she plays some nice tennis. Well we'll see what happens.

A little extra. If you like Caroline you can vote for her and Rory for being the worlds most marketable sports couple on the following site:

http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/...rrent_sporting_couples_is_the_most_marketable

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Tennis LIVE on TV from day 1 in Stuttgart - good news for tennisfans - here from the official webpage:

Stuttgart. Fans of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix are in for a treat: this year more live matches will be shown from the world class tournament in Stuttgart’s Porsche Arena than ever before. This is down, alongside the matches broadcasted by the SWR television channel, to above all the digital transmissions on www.ran.de and www.tennis.de: the internet sites will be showing the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix as a livestream from the first round of the tournament proper (22 April).

“We’re highly delighted that our tournament can profit from the new digital service provided by the German Tennis Association in cooperation with Pro7Sat1,” said Tournament Director Markus Günthardt. “It means we will have the biggest media presence in the history of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The new online service is a modern and trend-setting instrument to successfully showcase tennis in Germany.”

The live transmissions on www.ran.de and www.tennis.de will begin on Monday, 22 April when at least one match will be shown. Two matches will be televised on both Tuesday and Wednesday whilst three will be aired on Thursday. Of the four quarterfinals on Friday, three will go out live should a German player still be left in the tournament, otherwise two will be broadcast. The semifinals and the final will be televised in their entirety. Further matches, especially in the first few days of the tournament, can also be viewed via livestream.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

Great news!
Thanks for posting the links Hoergren.

The Stuttgart web-site shows count-down is down to 1 day.

Here is the list of players accepted into the main draw.
seed-rank-name-country
1 2 SHARAPOVA Maria RUS
2 5 LI Na CHN
3 6 KERBER Angelique GER
4 7 ERRANI Sara ITA
5 8 KVITOVA Petra CZE
6 9 STOSUR Samantha AUS
7 10 WOZNIACKI Caroline DEN
8 11 PETROVA Nadia RUS
9 12 VINCI Roberta ITA
10 17 IVANOVIC Ana SRB
11 18 JANKOVIC Jelena SRB
12 23 SUAREZ NAVARRO Carla ESP
13 19 PAVLYUCHENKOVA Anastasia RUS
14 20 ZAKOPALOVA Klara CZE
15 22 FLIPKENS Kirsten BEL
16 24 MAKAROVA Ekaterina RUS
17 25 SAFAROVA Lucie CZE
18 28 BARTHEL Mona GER
19 29 VESNINA Elena RUS
20 30 GÖRGES Julia GER (withdrew)
21 31 PASZEK Tamira AUT
22 47 LISICKI Sabine GER
23 128 PETKOVIC Andrea GER
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Top news from Stuttgart here:

http://www.porsche-tennis.de/prod/pag/tennis.nsf/web/english-current_topnews

 

[Hoergren]

The singles draw in Stuttgart

1.M. SHARAPOVA [1]
2 BYE

3 BARTHEL, Mona GER She can be really good
4 SAFAROVA, Lucie CZE

5 IVANOVIC, Ana SRB how sharp is Ana?
6 PETKOVIC, Andrea GER has she overcome her injuries?

7 QUALIFIER
8 PETROVA, Nadia RUS

9 KERBER, Angelique GER
10 BYE

11 PAVLYUCHENKOVA, Anastasia RUS Can be sharp
12 MAKAROVA, Ekaterina RUS Can be sharp - so good match

13 SHVEDOVA, Yaroslava KAZ
14 VINCI, Roberta ITA

15 SUAREZ NAVARRO, Carla ESP Beware Caroline!
16 WOZNIACKI, Caroline DEN how good is she (hope super!)

17 STOSUR, Samantha AUS Sam oh Sam - come on!
18 JANKOVIC, Jelena SRB climbing steadily occasionally playing well

19 LISICKI, Sabine GER Come on Sabine
20 QUALIFIER

21 QUALIFIER
22 WICKMAYER, Yanina BEL

23 BYE
24 ERRANI, Sara ITA Steam up after FED cup?

25 KVITOVA, Petra CZE is she in a slump or what?
26 BECK, Annika GER

27 GOERGES, Julia GER will she play??
28 FLIPKENS, Kirsten BEL she's occasionally playing super

29 VESNINA, Elena RUS
30 QUALIFIER

31 BYE
32 LI, Na CHN Li will be exciting to see - I think

 

[Sundaymorningguy]

Thank God Errani is not on Maria's side of the draw. Though I will give Errani credit she did play Maria tough in Miami.

 

[Correspondent Kiu]

I am looking forward to that first round match between JJ and Slamin' Sammy.
H2H is 5-2 in favor of JJ, Stosur has not beaten JJ since French Open 2010
Both are clay warriors.

I also like the Petko vs. Ana match.

Luck of the draw, Elena gets a qualifier, Caro gets Carla.

 

[Hoergren]

Monday qualifying finals

[6] Bethanie Mattek-Sands (USA) d Anna-Lena Friedsam (GER) 6 - 3 6 - 4
Dinah Pfizenmaier (GER) d Catalina Castano (COL) 7 - 6 (5) 5 - 7 6 - 2
Nastassja Burnett (ITA) d [3] Garbine Muguruza (ESP) 6 - 4 7 - 5
[4] Mirjana Lucic-Baroni (CRO) d [7] Shahar Peer (ISR) 6 - 3 6 - 1