Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
27.09. - 5.10.2008, Porsche-Arena
Justine Henin, the world no 1 from Belgium, was also the No 1 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. The favourite won the final of the long-established tournament in the Posche Arena against the Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin 2:6, 6:2, 6:1.
"It's my third attempt and I've finally won the Porsche," said 25-year-old Justine Henin when receiving the key for the brand new 911 Turbo Cabriolet from Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking, CEO of the Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. "I'm very happy to have won. I was really disappointed not to have been able to play at the first tournament here last year and after this week I now know exactly what I missed. The atmosphere here is great, it's so motivating."
The favourite lost the first set surprisingly easily 6:2. I couldn't get into my rhythm and Tatiana was in control of the match," said the Belgian. But then in the second set she was less aggressive and the match turned completely. I was never quite sure I was going to win, she fought really hard. Now it's my title. I'll take home lots of great memories. The fans in the Porsche Arena are wonderful and it's fantastic the way Porsche has supported the tournament over all these years."
Tatiana Golovin was a fair loser. "Justine played super tennis. She hardly made any errors and was always fully concentrated," said the world No 19. "I wasn't good enough for the Porsche today but I'll definitely be back in 2008. Justine won the car after her third final appearance, perhaps I'll do the same. Nevertheless I had a lot of fun here, after all I beat two Top 5 players. I'm very pleased with my performance."
WTA Tour Supervisor Laura Ceccarelli was very positive when looking back on the 2007 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. "Normally the players come to me at the end of the tournament with lots of complaints," she said, "Here in Stuttgart they came to me and only said they didn't know of anything that needed improving. Everything is wonderful."
The Porsche Tennis Grand Prix doubles title went to the No 1 seeds Kveta Peschke/Rennae Stubbs (Czech Republic/Australia). They Yung-Jan Chan/Dinara Safina (Taiwan/Russia) Yung-Jan Chan/Dinara Safina (Taiwan/Russia) beat 6:7, 7:6, 10:2 in the final.
