The 2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix champion Jelena Jankovic started her first round encounter with Caroline Wozniacki well, earning a 3-1 lead and even having chances to make it bigger, but the sixth-seeded Dane then went on a roll, won five straight games to take the first set 6-3. In the ninth game Jankovic had three break opportunities, but Wozniacki was not looking back and continued the momentum in the second set by breaking Jankovic's serve right away. The disappointment then struck, as Jankovic retired after 55 minutes of play.

Serbia lost another representative this Wednesday in Stuttgart, when Ana Ivanovic fell to wildcard Mona Barthel 7-5 7-6(4).

Another match was cut short by injury today – second seed Maria Sharapova advanced when Alize Cornet called it a day at 6-3 1-0 because of a right shoulder injury in their second round match. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

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)