Coco Gauff gets nightmare road to Stuttgart title in clay season opener
Coco Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka are all set to start their clay seasons in Stuttgart and they have learned their possible paths to winning the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
We will first start with Gauff, who is seeded at No. 4 this year and has a first-round bye. before very likely meeting Danielle Collins in what would be a big-time round-of-16 showdown. It won't get any easier going forward since the fourth-seeded American is projected to meet two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini in the quarterfinal and top seed Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinal, respectively. If the 21-year-old reaches her first Porsche Tennis Grand Prix final, the names she could meet there include Swiatek and No. 3 seed Jessica Pegula.
Just like Gauff, Swiatek could also face a very tricky opener since she is projected to play Donna Vekic. The Stuttgart quarterfinal action could see the Pole taking on her nemesis Jelena Ostapenko and then potentially meeting Pegula in the semifinal. The Pole can't meet Gauff or Sabalenka before the Stuttgart final.
When it comes to Sabalenka, she will likely play Clara Tauson and No. 8 seed Diana Shnaider in her opening two matches. As mentioned above, a projected semifinal in the top half sees the Belarusian taking on Gauff in the semifinal while the projected final sees the top seed clashing against Swiatek.
Stuttgart WTA 500 draw: pic.twitter.com/zP2jE9xDuk
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) April 13, 2025
Since Elena Rybakina won't defend her title at the German WTA 500 event, the tournament is guaranteed to get a different champion in 2025.
How Gauff, Swiatek and Sabalenka have done in Stuttgart in the past?
Gauff has had three appearances in Stuttgart and hasn't had much success so far – a 1R loss in 2022, a round-of-16 exit in 2023, and a quarterfinal outing last year.
On the other side, it has been the exact opposite for Swiatek, who has two titles in three appearances at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Sabalenka did pretty well multiple times at the German clay event but somehow she still doesn't have a title at the tournament. She was beaten by Ashleigh Barty in the 2021 Stuttgart final before finishing as runner-up to Swiatek in back-to-back finals in 2022 and 2023.
