t was 6:1, 6:4 in the end – but you can already see from the playing time that it was closer than the pure result. Iga Swiatek needed 1 hour and 24 minutes to defeat Qinwen Zheng.
She threw everything in the second set, caught up 2:4 and had chances to lead 5:4. But Swiatek stayed on, managed to break again and then served out.
“It was difficult, I haven’t played since Indian Wells,” she said in an on-court interview. “I had to think too much about technique and tactics in between.”
Swiatek won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix for the first time last year, at her first appearance in Stuttgart.
Swaitek now meets 2018 winner Karolina Pliskova, who continues to be in great form. Against Donna Vekic she played excellent tennis for a set and a half, but in the end she would have to fight – 6: 2, 6: 7 (5), 7: 6 (5) it finally said. Pliskova will have to stretch herself against Swiatek: In their only encounter, in the Rome final in 2021, it went 0: 6, 0: 6.
Paula Badosa is also through after a clear 6:1, 6:2 against Cristina Bucsa. Surprisingly eliminated: Coco Gauff – she lost 2:6, 3:6 against Anastasia Potapova.
In action in the evening: Tatjana Maria against Caroline Garcia (live here !) and Elena Rybakina against Beatrix Haddad Maia.
Click here for the individual draw at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
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