Elena Rybakina stays on course for a second Porsche Tennis Grand Prix title

Spectators at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix enjoyed over nine hours of world class tennis on quarterfinals day. In the opening match, Elina Svitolina defeated Linda Noskova 7-6(2), 7-5 in an intense contest that remained finely balanced for a long time. Against the hard-hitting Czech, the No. 4 seed profited above all from her serve and sent down an impressive 11 aces without a single double fault. “A few points made the difference today,” said the Ukrainian. “That made it all the more important that I produced my best tennis in the key moments.” Svitolina has therefore reached the semifinals of the long-standing Stuttgart tournament for the second time after 2021. Back then, against the then world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty, she had already served for the match before eventually losing.

Karolina Muchova reached the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for the first time with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over Coco Gauff. After two hours and 23 minutes, the world No. 12 threw her arms in the air and celebrated her first victory over the American after six previous defeats. “That was a great tennis match,” she said after her surprise win. “Coco is one of the best players in the world, we’ve already had a lot of great battles.” The fact that she was finally able to beat the world No. 3 made it all the more pleasing for the Czech: “I watched our last matches and sat down with my team to think about what we could change and improve. Apparently it paid off.”

Mirra Andreeva then provided the day’s second upset. The 18-year-old defeated Iga Swiatek 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to make it three wins in a row over the two-time Stuttgart champion. At the same time, she extended her winning streak to seven matches after lifting the title in Linz. After losing the opening set, Andreeva worked her way more and more into the match. “I’m so confident at the moment that I know I can come back at any time,” said the world No. 9. “That’s exactly what I told myself in the third set.” Her aim, she said, was to take matters into her own hands: “I tried to play fearlessly and stay aggressive all the time. I didn’t want to wait for my opponent’s mistakes, I wanted to decide the match myself.” Looking ahead to the semifinal, she made her goal crystal clear: “Now I really want to win the 911.”

Elena Rybakina put the finishing touch to an extraordinary quarterfinal day. The top-seeded Kazakh, who has already won the Australian Open this year, came through against Leylah Fernandez after losing the first-set tie-break. In the third-set decider, she even saved match points before closing out the match - 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6) - with a forehand winner and keep her hopes of another success in the Porsche Arena alive. Against the Canadian, who had already spent more than three hours on court the day before, the 2024 champion initially struggled to find her rhythm, but then gradually upped her game. “At the start, nothing was working for me, but somehow I found a way,” said the world No. 2. “I’m very happy that I somehow managed to get the match over the line.”

World-class semifinals in prospect on Saturday

Four players can still dream of winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The first semifinal will be contested by Elina Svitolina, the world No. 7, and Karolina Muchova (No. 12), followed by top seed Elena Rybakina against Mirra Andreeva (No. 9).

Friday’s results

Quarterfinals, singles
[4] E. Svitolina (UKR) def L. Noskova (CZE) 7-6 (2), 7-5
[7] K. Muchova (CZE) def [2] C. Gauff (USA) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
[6] M. Andreeva def [3] I. Swiatek (POL) 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
[1] E. Rybakina (KAZ) vs L. Fernandez (CAN) 6-7(5), 6-4, 7-6(6)

Order of Play, Saturday

Centre Court
Starting at 12.00 hrs
[4] N. Melichar-Martinez (USA)/L. Samsonova vs [2] E. Perez (AUS)/D. Schuurs (NED)
Not before 14.00 hrs
E. Svitolina (UKR) vs [7] K. Muchova (CZE)
Not before 16.00 hrs
[1] E. Rybakina (KAZ) vs [6] M. Andreeva
[1] J. Ostapenko (LAT)/S. Zhang (CHN) vs U. Eikeri (NOR)/Q. Gleason (USA)