Porsche Talent Team Germany: re-formed for the future
Stuttgart. A success story enters the next round – as of April 2015, the Porsche Talent Team Germany comes with an exciting mixture of familiar faces and new up-and-coming juniors. The squad containing Carina Witthöft, Anna-Lena Friedsam and Antonia Lottner has been bolstered by the inclusion of Katharina Hobgarski, Katharina Gerlach and Lena Rüffer.“They are the best players of their age groups and it’s fantastic that they’ve been added to the team. All three are very ambitious and focussed. We’ll be giving them all the time they need to develop. There’s still a long way to go but they’ve got the potential to succeed,” says Porsche Team Germany captain and national coach Barbara Rittner.
Born in Haupersweiler in the state of Saarland in 1997, Katharina Hobgarski caused a stir at the start of the year when reaching the doubles final at the Australian Open Junior Championships. Hobgarski also has numerous wins on the ITF Junior Circuit to her credit. At the national level, she was the U-16 German indoor singles champion and the German junior doubles champion.
Her teammate Katharina Gerlach (born in 1998) has amassed no fewer than eight German championships: the player with a one-handed backhand lives and practices in Kamen, Westphalia and last year won both the U-16 German Championships in both singles and doubles. She also won the U-18 German indoor doubles championship.
She was partnered to the win by Berlin-born - in 1998 - Lena Rüffer who is the third new addition to the Porsche Talent Team Germany squad. The current Deutsche Tennis Bund (DTB – German Tennis Association) junior spokesperson, she secured wins in last year’s German U-16 singles championship as well as a third place finish at the U-14 Team World Championships in 2012.
A joint DTB and Porsche AG project, Porsche Talent Team Germany started life in April 2012 with the goal of establishing German women’s tennis permanently at the top of the game. Alongside Carina Witthöft (born in 1995) and Antonia Lottner (born in 1996), the initial team also included Dinah Pfizenmaier (born in 1992) and Annika Beck (born in 1994). The last-named rose to No. 43 in the world rankings and made her Fed Cup debut for Porsche Team Germany against France in 2013.
“The success of our Porsche Talent Team Germany players shows that this form of support and funding is a one that makes sense and is the right track to take. Together with Porsche AG, we want to continue along the present course. We are looking forward to the future with these highly promising young players,” said DTB President Ulrich Klaus.
“Supporting talented youngsters has a long tradition at Porsche. The Porsche Junior Programme, one of the most successful schemes supporting up-and-coming drivers in international motorsport, has produced some of the world’s best sports car pilots in recent times,” said Matthias Müller, Chairman of the Executive Board of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. “A good junior coaching set-up will provide the foundation for future successes in tennis too. In supporting young players, we want to accompany them on their way to the top and make a contribution in helping them become future role models that enthusiastic juniors can look up to and emulate.”
The Porsche Talent Team Germany with Anna-Lena Friedsam, Carina Witthöft, Antonia Lottner, Katharina Hobgarski, Katharina Gerlach and Lena Rüffer is an integral part of the Premium Partnership between the DTB and Porsche AG that was extended by a further three years last November. As previously, Porsche AG’s involvement covers both the German junior and senior teams.
Englisch (Porsche AG)
T15_0188
08.05.2015
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- Tennis
- Saison 2015
- Porsche Nachwuchs Teams
Porsche Talent Team Germany: re-formed for the future