Julia Goerges thrilled the home crowd by upsetting world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki 7-6(3) 6-3, thus becoming a surprise titlist at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. The 32nd-ranked German also defeated Michaella Krajicek, Victoria Azarenka (it was a retirement, though), Sabine Lisicki and fifth seed Samantha Stosur before coming to face the top-ranked player.

The big-serving Goerges never allowed Wozniacki to break her, and stunned the Dane by forcing her to play backhand and make errors. The first set went with serve until the tiebreak, which Goerges opened up with a 5-2 lead. In the second set, Goerges established a 3-0 lead and was always in advantage until clinching the Premier-level tournament.

Goerges is now 2-1 in career WTA finals. Her other tournament win came last year at Bad Gastein, while she lost the 2010 Luxembourg final to Roberta Vinci. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The only tournament in Germany had four German players in the quarterfinals, but all of them that could go out actually did, and now we have only Julia Goerges representing the country in the semis of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki was 4-1 behind in the first set against German world No.19 Andrea Petkovic, but the Dane rallied to win 10 straight games en route to a 6-4 6-1 victory. Wozniacki’s semifinal opponent will be Agnieszka Radwanska, who took out another German, Kristina Barrois, 7-5 6-3.

The quarterfinals also featured an all-German battle between Julia Goerges and Sabine Lisicki, and as Goerges won 6-4 6-4, she will be the only German representative in the final four, while playing her first Premier-level semifinal. Goerges is ranked 32nd in the world, and after Petkovic she is the second-ranked German player. Goerges’ opponent in the final four will be fifth seed Samantha Stosur, who pulled out a 2-6 6-3 7-6(3) win over world No.3 Vera Zvonareva. Stosur considers the match her best match of 2011.

There will be no play at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Friday, because it's a holiday. (photos: © Neal Trousdale)

World No.4 Francesca Schiavone skipped last weekend's Fed Cup action in order to start the clay court season fresh and prepared so that she can give her best in defending the French Open title, but the start wasn't as successful as she hoped for. The Italian lost her opening match on clay to Agnieszka Radwanska in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix and in straight sets, 6-1 6-3.

In previous years, it was Schiavone who won all the four encounters with Radwanska, but in 2011, the Pole defeated Schiavone 6-0 6-2 in Miami and now in Stuttgart, in their first meeting on clay. Read more »

Former world No.1 Justine Henin returned to the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour in January and today at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart she won her first comeback title, having finished runner-up at Brisbane and Australian Open. The Belgian’s opponent in today's final was Australian Samantha Stosur, whom she was playing for the first time.

The 26-year-old Stosur entered the Stuttgart final on an 11-match winning streak on clay, but it was not rocket science that her first meeting with four-time French Open champion Henin would be a real challenge. Henin, a wildcard now projected to return to the Top 20, didn’t need more than one break point to take her opponent’s service game and then the first set. In the following set, the Australian seventh seed, a wildcard as a late entrant, held serve throughout and broke Henin two times to win 6-2. In the decider, Henin was strong on her serve and allowed Stosur to win only one game. Final score: 6-4 2-6 6-1.

Henin won her 42th WTA singles title and her second at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. Prize for the winner was $107,000 and a Porsche sports car, while the runner-up took home $56,000. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin will have a chance to win her first title since coming out of retirement, having reached the final at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on her beloved clay. It will be the Belgian’s 60 Tour final and her opponent will be fellow wildcard Samantha Stosur.

The former world No.1 Henin didn’t have a birthday present for Shahar Peer and defeated the Israeli 6-3 6-2 in the semifinals. Even lack of sleep and cold couldn’t stop Henin, who is currently ranked four places lower than Peer.

Australia’s Samantha Stosur reached her eighth final on the WTA Tour with a 7-5 6-3 victory over 138th-ranked qualifier Anna Lapushchenkova. Stosur had to come from 5-2 behind to take the first set. By the way, if you’re interested in reading more about Lapushchenkova, I suggest a short but very informative article at Diane’s blog about women’s tennis.

Although Stosur is in excellent form, having confirmed that with the Charleston title last month, the first meeting with Henin, especially on clay, will be a great challenge. And apparently, the fact that Henin is playing her first tournament on clay in two years will not be an obstacle. In addition, the Belgian won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2007. (photos: sr_cranks)

I sometimes think that a win over Justine Henin would be a greater career achievement for Jelena Jankovic than a Grand Slam title. Both are former world No.1s, but Jankovic has an embarrassing 0-10 record against Henin.

Jankovic was close to defeating Henin many times. They have played six three-setters so far, including today in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinals, but Jankovic never had the nerve or that important something to go all the way. Moreover, out of those six matches played in three sets, Jankovic won the first set five times, which was the case today as well.

The two hadn’t met since the 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships and today’s quarterfinal in Stuttgart was interesting because it was their first encounter since Henin came out of retirement. As many times before, things started well for the fourth-seeded Jankovic and she took the first set 6-3. In the second set Henin hit 24 unforced errors to Jankovic’s 11, but the Belgian wildcard had 24 winners compared to Jankovic’s 8. Nevertheless, Jankovic had a chance to win the set, as she lost only in the tiebreak which ended with the score 7-4. In the third set Jankovic came back from 0-2 to lead 3-2, but then the beginning of her end started and she finally lost the match 3-6 7-6(4) 6-3.

Henin’s opponent in the semifinals will be Shahar Peer of Israel, who advanced with a 6-3 6-2 victory over rusty Dinara Safina, seeded second. (photo: sr_cranks)

World No.3 Dinara Safina hadn’t played on the Tour since January and the Australian Open, and her first match since returning from the back injury was a victory — the Russian defeated Hungary's Agnes Szavay 7-6(5) 3-6 6-0 in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The win over the 33rd-ranked Szavay is a good sign, as only days ago Safina said that the lower back injury could cause her long-term problems and seriously harm her career.

The unseeded Szavay quickly got to a 4-1 lead in the first set, but Safina fought back to win it in over an hour. After losing the second set, the Russian was in full command in the third.

"I don't know if I am more happy than tired or more tired than happy," said Safina, who turned 24 two days ago. "It is always nice to come back with a win, regardless how."

Safina, last year’s runner-up at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, will play Israel’s Shahar Peer in the quarterfinals. (source: Earth Times, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The ankle injury Caroline Wozniacki sustained in the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup two weeks ago is still hampering the Dane’s movement and she lost to Lucie Safarova 6-4 6-4 in the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart.

The 38th-ranked Safarova sensed that her opponent had troubles with movement and forced that part of her game. The top-seeded Wozniacki didn’t have a single chance to break Safarova’s serve, while the Czech won the match thanks to one break in each set.

It was the first encounter of Safarova and Wozniacki. The 23-year-old Safarova earned her fifth career win over a Top 5 player by defeating the world No.2 Wozniacki (her first four all came in 2007). (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

The last match of today’s play at the $700,000 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart was an upset of defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. The third-seeded Russian lost to China's Li Na 6-3 7-5 in the second round.

The only other second-round match that took place on Wednesday happened to be an upset as well, with unseeded Shahar Peer of Israel defeating fifth seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3 6-7(4) 6-2. Peer had a match point in the second set, but wrapped up victory in the third to upset the Pole who had added to the slump of Ana Ivanovic in the first round.

No.4 seed Jelena Jankovic, No.6 seed Victoria Azarenka, No.7 seed Samantha Stosur, No.8 seed Yanina Wickmayer and unseeded wildcard Justine Henin were all victorious in their first-round matches.

Kuznetsova’s opponent in the last year’s Stuttgart final, Dinara Safina, is in action on Thursday and will play her first match since the Australian Open. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

World No.8 Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland extended the slump of Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic by defeating the former world No.1 7-6(4) 6-4 in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. Ivanovic’s last match prior to the tournament in Stuttgart had been another loss to Radwanska, in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami.

Despite facing disappointment after disappointment the world No.57 Ivanovic is staying positive, or at least she is trying to project such an image:

It was a tough loss but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. I have to be positive. I’m trying to make every shot perfect and it’s just not coming every time. I just need to relax more. A few mistakes here and there are costing me matches. I just have to be patient.

The 22-year-old Ivanovic, champion at the clay-court Grand Slam of Roland Garros in 2008, was playing her first match on clay in 11 months at this year's Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.

The fifth-seeded Radwanska will play Shahar Peer of Israel in the second round. (photo: sr_cranks)