Elise Mertens of Belgium lost to Iga Swiatek in straight sets on Thursday, April 18. This put Swiatek in the semifinals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2024.
Mertens made seven break points, but Swiatek saved five of them. She broke the second player four times to win 6-3, 6-4 in Stuttgart after an hour and 34 minutes.
The Pole has already won this tournament twice, beating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in the last two rounds. She won €93,823 and a Porsche Taycan GTS Sport Turismo in 2022. The next year, she won €104,478 and got the keys to a Porsche Taycan Turbo S.
A brand new Porsche Taycan 4S Sport Turismo and €123,480 are set aside as the prize for this year’s winner. Iga Swiatek has already taken the first step towards getting them.
On Thursday, after her match, Swiatek was asked if she had room in her shed for a third Porsche. Iga Swiatek said in her answer that she would make sure there was room underground for the third one if that was what was needed.
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“I have more cars, but Porsche can always fit in.” We’ll make it if not; I’ll build a garage below. “It’s nice to have a problem, so I’ll just try to play as well as I can here,” she said.
But the four-time Grand Slam winner said that the third prize seemed out of reach right now because Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Elena Rybakina, and other players were still in the running.
“There is still a long way to go to get to the final or even the semifinals.” I want to take things slowly because this event isn’t easy. “Everyone really wants that car, so I’ll do it one step at a time,” she said.
The next person standing in the way of Swiatek and the Porsche Taycan Turbo S is Emma Raducanu from Great Britain. They will meet in the semifinals.
Emma Raducanu is behind Iga Swiatek 2-0 in their head-to-head matchups
Since then, Iga Swiatek has played Emma Raducanu twice and has not lost either time. On Friday, April 19, in the rounds of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2024, these two will play each other.
As a reminder, they played each other in the quarterfinals in 2022 and Swiatek beat the Brit 6-4, 6-4. The second time the Pole beat Raducanu, it was at the Indian Wells Open in 2023, with scores of 6-3, 6-1.
This time, though, Swiatek has a job to do because Raducanu has been playing great in Stuttgart. To start her season, the Brit beat Angelique Kerber of Germany 6-2, 6-1. She then beat Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic 6-0, 7-5.
