Stuttgart. Good crowds and exciting top class matches: the second day of the qualifying event at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix showed once again that the tournament before the tournament offers tennis of the highest quality. And it’s something the fans are well aware of.
The first highlight of the day was provided by Annika Beck. The Porsche Talent Team Germany player reached the qualifying finals after a long-hard fought encounter with the Russian Anastasia Pivovarova 6-4, 4-6, 6-2. The 18-year-old German will now meet Frenchwoman who defeated German Tatjana Malek 6-2, 5-7, 6-1. Annika Beck, the world No. 181, only needs one more win to bolster the host’s main draw “power base” which includes Angelique Kerber, Andrea Petkovic, Julia Görges, Mona Barthel and Kristina Barrois. “To win two matches at such a strong tournament is naturally a dream,” said the Porsche youngster who “feels at home” at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Perhaps the dream will continue on Monday even though things will not be easy against Alize Cornet. The 22-year-old from Nice was after all the world No. 11 in 2009. Currently the Frenchwoman is ranked No. 100. No matter what happens tomorrow, her trip to the 2012 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2012 has been well worth while. She has been to Stuttgart three times before and lost each time in the first round of qualifying.
For Carina Witthöft, a Porsche Talent Team Germany member, the tournament on the other hand was over in the second round of quali. After overcoming Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova, who is ranked 373 places above the German, in three long hard-fought sets, the 17-year-old world No. 416 was forced to pull out of her match against Austrian Yvonne Meusburger with a high temperature. However Witthöft can be satisfied with her performance at the long-standing Stuttgart tournament. The same applies to Anna-Lena Friedsam in spite of her 6-7, 6-1, 6-2 loss. The 18-year-old was beaten by the experienced Ukrainian Kateryna Bondarenko, the world No. 62.
The four finals on Monday to decide who will be in action in the tournament proper are: Anna Chakvetadze (Russia) against Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukraine), Yvonne Meusberger (Austria) against Greta Arn (Hungary), Iveta Benesova (Czech Republic) against Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzbekistan) and Annika Beck against Alize Cornet.
