Local star Laura Siegemund started her title defence with a 6-4 6-3 win over Barbora Strycova in front of her home fans in the opening round of the Porsche Grand Prix at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart.
In the 2017 edition of the Porsche Grand Prix tournament she beat Svetlana Kuznetsova, Karolina Pliskova, Simona Halep and Kristina Mladenovic en route to clinching the biggest title of her career.
Siegemund needed a wild card to take part in the home tournament after being sidelined for ten months due to a serious injury last year in Nurenberg, where she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). She made her come-back on the WTA Tour in the Volvo Open in Charleston.
“I think I was in positive state of mind. The year hadn’t been easy for me up until Charleston. I played well but I did not do well. So I worked a lot on a lot on my attitude, keeping me up and keeping in a good mood. So at the point the injury happened, people said oh, how can it be in that moment. I don’t think that the moment matters so much. Of course, I was playing well but it’s not nice to have this happen at any time. It’s been a long 10 months. I did great things away from sport and tennis but it’s been a lot of work. When you go back out there and can actually enjoy yourself again and not have to think about a physical issue, that’s such a nice thing. It’s worth all the work in the end. Stuttgart is my home tournament and I won it last year, but it’s not only about Stuttgart. I see the bigger picture and I want to play healthy from now on. Stuttgart was not a deadline, that I need to be fit. I always said I want to see how the knee feels. Now I felt like I can be ready for the clay tournaments. My performance in Charleston tells me this was the right thing to do,” Siegemund told the WTA Insider Podcast.
It took 30 minutes to get the first three games before Siegemund got an early break. Both Siegemund and Strycova traded breaks. Siegemund opened up a 4-1 lead, but Strycova pulled the break back. The German held her serve to close out the first set. Siegemund saved a break point and won five of the last six games to clinch the win in just under 2 hours. Siegemund hit 25 winners to 25 unforced errors. Strykova produced 11 winners to 19 unforced errors.
Siegemund will face either 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens or Coco Vandeweghe.
