Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2022: Who Are The Top Players?

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is also called the Stuttgart Open. The event will happen from Saturday, April 16, to Sunday, April 24, at the Porsche Arena. Until a few years ago, it used to happen in Filderstadt, a suburb of Stuttgart, Germany. The tournament started in the late 1970s. It is the oldest indoor tournament for women's tennis players in the European continent. The tournament was a part of the second category from the '90s for two decades. After that, it has become a major event on the women's tennis calendar. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix singles winner gets a Porsche sports car and prize money. The event was organized on hard court in the autumn season until fourteen years ago. Since then, it has been organized on clay courts in the spring season. It is seen to be the warm-up event before the French Open starts. This makes it an exclusive indoor clay-court event on the entire women's circuit.

The women's tennis players have voted the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for several years as one of their preferred major tennis events. The event has been won by many top players and Grand Slam champs in the past. Martina Navratilova has the record for the most victories in singles matches. She has won more than five singles titles and seven doubles titles here. Martina Hingis and Tracy Austin followed her with more than three victories in the singles tournament. In fact, the latter won these titles consecutively. They are followed by Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport, with more than two titles each. The present champ for the event is Ashleigh Barty.

Anke Huber, the operating tournament director, said about the retired Ashleigh Barty, "In my mind, the Porsche Arena crowd is going to love her. We also naturally would love her to come. We haven't yet had confirmation from her, but we're still working on it. In my view, the chances are good. She won last year's tournament, the surface suits her, and the fact we play indoors is also up to her street. She, after all, always stressed that she felt at home in Stuttgart. Whenever a player wins a tournament, it basically means that things went well for her. Therefore, there's nothing really speaking against her returning a year later. Alongside Ashleigh Barty, I'd also love to have Naomi Osaka and Angelique Kerber at our tournament. We've already spoken about Barty. Osaka is a fantastic player and a very interesting personality and one that everybody knows in the meantime. She plays excellent tennis if she's fit and in form. In Australia, she didn't give the impression of being fully fit and was very unlucky to lose. But I think she's on a good path again."

"As for Angie, she's just perfect for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Our crowd has taken her to heart and supports her so enthusiastically. As a two-time Stuttgart winner, she would definitely be a real enrichment tennis-wise. The new year has started well, and I'm confident this season can go ahead as normal. We're so looking forward to the tournament and welcoming as many tennis fans as possible to the Porsche Arena."

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Highlights

The whole message regarding the event is designed to be just as special as the event itself. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is going to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary in a few years. That means the event has given nearly half a century of social and sporting highlights. It marks a long partnership with Porsche and the event's love and association with the sport of tennis. In keeping with this tune, the previous anniversary celebrations held a few years ago were spot on and appealed to a large section of tennis lovers. The tournament was responsible for setting up menus, billboards, and roadshows. The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix has always been a great success. It has satisfied fans and players who get to experience and get involved in closely-fought matches. It is truly a world-class tournament.

"We've got a sensational field and spectators back in the indoor arena. One couldn't wish for more," says Tournament Director Markus Günthardt. "The fact that virtually all the Top 20 will be contesting our tournament is amazing. The players love coming to us because they feel at home here. We offer them conditions in which they can perform at their best. Our crowd also creates a fantastic atmosphere, whether there are two stars or two qualifiers on the court. The players know that such an atmosphere is not one they get to experience at many of the world's tournaments."

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix History

When the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix started its grand journey, the planet was still in analog mode. A cassette player known as the Walkman was just becoming famous. But there have been big changes since then. Now, music is listened to from the internet. Tennis and football matches are played on personal computers. But the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix continues its time-honored traditions. The top women tennis players in the world come together to present their great skills on the court. The tennis prodigy Tracy Austin won the trophy here in her initial attempt. She then went on to get consecutive title victories here. Stefanie Graf played her first tournament here when she entered her teens. In that event, she managed to get to the final. Martina Navratilova has the most victories here.

The event was created by businessman Dieter Fischer, who had started an exhibition tennis event for men in Filderstadt so that he could start his tennis center. After not being able to start the men's tournament, he purchased a license for a women's event, and the first edition was held shortly after that. But the tournament was not continued because it took a lot of effort to organize a couple of events each year with a volunteer force. But it was restarted after that. Nearly thirty years ago, the organizers made a request for the promotion of the event to the first tier. But this was rejected by the authorities because they felt that the center court of the event was too small. Eventually, the request was accepted. In later years, Fischer sold the license of the event to Porsche, who had been the sponsor since the start of the event.

Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Field

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix gets all the big stars in women's tennis to the event. Most of the top twenty players in the world rankings will be present in the tournament. The stars at this edition of the premier event include Emma Raducanu from Great Britain, who obtained victory in the US Open the previous year, and top German player Angelique Kerber as the Brand Ambassador for Porsche.

Conclusion

The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix is one of the top women's tennis circuit tournaments. Everyone involved in the tournament, including the players, fans, volunteers, and organizers, is excited about this event and looks forward to it each year. Just as the brand behind the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, the formal event is a thrilling mix of great sporting performances and emotions in each edition. For the past many years, the tournament has also been involved in providing creative concepts with great recognition value, which gives a special brand experience and a unique event.