By Rickee Bhardwaj
Of the four German players in the quarterfinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix just one advanced on Thursday to the semifinals. After winning 6-4, 6-4 against Sabine Lisicki, Julia Görges clenched her fists and then savoured the applause of the thrilled spectators in the Porsche Arena. The 22-year-old has now got a day’s break before meeting the Australian Samantha Stosur, last year’s runner-up, on Saturday. Julia Görges is the first German to reach the semifinals since Anke Huber in 1999.
“It’s definitely a good feeling to have this kind of success in front of such a fantastic crowd in your home country,” she said.
Her next opponent will be a tough nut to crack. “I’ll definitely be the outsider in the semi. Samantha can be a really awkward player to play against on clay,” said Görges when talking about the world No. 7, who won her quarterfinal against Vera Zvonareva from Russia after a slow start. Stosur’s 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) win was her sixth in succession against the current world No. 3”
In spite of her initial disappointment, Sabine Lisicki was happy in spite of her loss. “I lacked strength at the end. I’ve been ill over the past few days, which you can hear in my voice. I gave it my all and there was nothing else I could do. That extra bit of energy was missing,” said the world ranked No. 155. After being out of action for many months with an injury in 2010, the German has proved in impressive fashion that she is back on track.
Andrea Petkovic, Germany’s new tennis star,was so tired and had such heavy legs after her 6-4, 6-1 loss to Caroline Wozniacki (Denmark) that she had somebody push her into the press conference in a wheelchair. The 23-year-old led 4-1, 40-0 against the world No. 1 but then the battery was empty. “In the changeovers my pulse was up to 180,” said Petkovic. The German had played five singles, including her Fed Cup matches, within the space of six days and some of them lasted over two hours. “I reckon, when I channel all my energy on my game then I can play even better in the future,” she said. Germany’s top player thanked the spectators in the Porsche Arena for their marvellous support: “The crowd here was simply fantastic.”
Caroline Wozniacki will face the Polish player Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals on Saturday. The world No. 14 defeated Kristina Barrois 7-5, 6-3. The German, who plays for the local TEC Waldau Stuttgart club, was given a wild card for the main draw. Agnieszka Radwanska on the other hand is looking to do great things in Stuttgart. “I’d like to play twice more here, – the semifinal and the final."
At least one German will definitely be in the final of the doubles. Kristina Barrois and Jasmin Wöhr will play on Saturday against Kathrin Wörle and her Hungarian partner Katalin Marosi. The second semifinal will be between Vitalia Diatchenko (Russia)/Mariya Koryttseva (Ukraine) and Sabine Lisicki/Samantha Stosur, who overcame Andrea Petkovic/Julia Görges 6-3, 6-4 late on Thursday evening.
