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1980-1989
1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989
1980
Finals: Tracy Austin (USA) - Sherry Acker (USA)
6:2 7:5Championship Prize: Porsche 924 Turbo
Prize Money: $125,000
The American Tracy Austin surprised spectators in Filderstadt with her hat-trick, but the focus of attention was really on a 15-year-old teenager with braces and pig tails reaching down to her waist, whose stoic efficiency at the game made it seem as if her hand was computer-controlled. 'Child prodigy' Andrea Jaeger catapulted Germany's favourite, Sylvia Hanika, out of the championship and thus sparked a virulent debate on how far ambitious parents should be allowed to push their young tennis daughters.
1981
4:6 6:3 6:4
Championship Prize: Porsche 944
Prize Money: $125,000
Tracy Austin, too, had been a child, when she was celebrated as the first Porsche Tennis-Grand-Prix champion in 1978. Her mother was her constant companion; her father, a nuclear physicist, was too busy to attend. Playing tennis made her grow up fast: aged eighteen she was ranked number three in the world; she had won 23 tournaments and was the youngest player of all times to have won the US Open when she fought for and won the fourth Porsche which nicely completed her family's fleet. She even wrote a note of thanks to the organiser - not for having won, but for having made her feel so welcome: "Every player feels at home here. Many thanks. Yours, Tracy."
1982
Finals: Martina Navratilova (USA) - Tracy Austin (USA)
6:3 6:3Championship Prize: Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Prize Money: $125,000
Changing of the guard: one last time the princess of Filderstadt made it into the finals but it was Martina Navratilova who emerged victorious as the tennis queen of the years to come.
Incidentally, Sylvia Hanika also came to Filderstadt in a Porsche, however, she has never won one. Not even in 1982, her golden year: in that year the 22-year-old player from Ottendichl beat the world champion in the Masters Finals in New York as well as the Filderstadt champion Martina Navratilova.
Just one more word on Tracy Austin: at twenty-one her career had come to an end, yet she looked back cheerfully: "Whatever I've done was my own choice and I had a great deal of fun. Tennis also provided the foundation for my future." Only later did she feel somewhat sentimental about her early resignation: "I miss the experience of being able to give my very best, as I was able to with tennis."
1983
Finals: Martina Navratilova (USA) - Catherine Tanvier (F)
6:1 6:2Championship Prize: Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Prize Money: $150,000
Martina Navratilova ruled the world of tennis - and that of Filderstadt: in just one year the 27-year-old notched up 72 victories. Pensively she looked down from her throne: "If every step you take only lead downwards, no matter what direction, then you´ve clearly reached the top. That's the time to resign." That's exactly what she did not do - at least for the time being.
In the shadow of this outstanding world champion a 14-year-old tennis novice gave her début at the Porsche Tennis-Grand-Prix: Stefanie Graf lost in two straight sets against Jo Durie 0-6, 3-6.
The tournament enjoyed record attendance figures (16,000 spectators) and for the first time Fischer was in the black. And yet, he had to put up with criticism: he was accused of turning the family party for the world's champions into a show case for the upper echelons. The popping of too many champagne corks did not go down well with the sponsors either. They agreed upon a course correction at the right moment in time. Rumour had it that the Championship sponsor, Porsche, was planning to relocate the event to the Schleyer-Halle in Stuttgart. But this rumour proved to be unfounded.
1984
Finals: Catarina Lindqvist (S) - Steffi Graf (D)
6:1 6:4Championship Prize: Porsche 911 Carrera
Prize Money: $150,000
The tournament was commended for its regained modesty and received generous credit on account of having recruited players that year who were not as top-class as in previous years: "A degree of normality that benefited the tournament." Normal for Filderstadt, that is: the natural, cheerful and at the same time unconventional style of the Porsche Tennis-Grand-Prix held many surprises in store. With Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Bettina Bunge and Eva Pfaff, three German top players made it into the quarter finals. And the 15-year-old Steffi Graf - No. 42 in the world rankings - experienced her break-through as a professional tennis player when she made it into the finals. The Brühl-born player was thrilled about her "most wonderful tournament experience" and Dieter Fischer proved himself as a soothsayer: "A new world-class star was born here."
1985
Finals: Pam Shriver (USA) - Catarina Lindqvist (S)
6:1 7:5Championship Prize: Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Prize Money: $175,000
"Porsche or money?", Hans-Joachim Stuck cheekily asked when interviewing the winner on Centre Court - and, much to the delight of the racing driver and host moderator, Pam Shriver chose the cabriolet. Professor Dr. Ferry Porsche handed over the keys to the American. She rode round Centre Court a few times and when Stuck gallantly steered the car over the narrow ramp outside, she threatened forcefully: "Take good care of my car."
Porsche knows all too well that fast tennis ladies enjoy a quick lap in a fast sports car: they were all keen to accept the offer to experience speed and technology on the test track at the R&D centre in Weissach.
1986
Finals: Martina Navratilova (USA) - Hana Mandlikova (AUS)
6:2 6:3Championship Prize: Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Prize Money: $175,000
Nothing but jubilees: at the tenth Porsche Tennis-Grand-Prix Martina Navratilova celebrated her 30th birthday, her thousandth win, and her third success at the tournament in Filderstadt. Her friend Judy Nelson appears to have had her doubts about the latter. To be on the safe side, on the day before the finals she had given Martina a special model of a blue Carrera cabriolet to mark that special birthday. The "real" cabriolet was won by Navratilova fair and square against Hana Mandlikova, who, incidentally, had been her ball girl way back in the past in their mutual home country.
To mark the tournament's anniversary, Dieter Fischer converted Court One into a Swabian local pub and served regional homemade fare to his guests. The host, too, was honoured: Lothar Späth, leader of the Federal State, awarded Fischer the Order of the Federal Republic in acknowledgement of his contributions to the community and the region of Filderstadt.
1987
Finals: Martina Navratilova (USA) - Chris Evert (USA)
7:5 6:1Championship Prize: Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet
Prize Money: $175,000
In 1987 Martina Navratilova caught up with Tracy Austin after winning the tournament for the fourth time. In one of the most exciting and top-class matches in the tournament's history she beat her long-term competitor and companion Chris Evert.
As in all previous years tickets for Centre Court were sold out - and amongst the spectators, year in, year out, one could find the same familiar faces: politicians, managers from industry and commerce, football professionals or presidents of clubs, skiers like Hansi Hinterseer, Christa Kinshofer or the Epple sisters, golf champions such as Bernhard Langer. People no longer came to be seen, but in order to see something special themselves in a pleasant and familiar atmosphere: women's tennis on a world-class scale.
1988
Finals: Martina Navratilova (USA) - Chris Evert-Mill (USA)
6:2 6:3Championship Prize: Porsche Carrera 911 Cabriolet
Prize Money: $250,000
All effort was in vain: even at her farewell performance Chris Evert, in the meantime married to the skier Andy Mill, did not pull off the coup of beating Martina Navratilova in the finals and climb into the driver´s seat of a Porsche. In measuring their strength the Porsche collector emerged even more clearly as the winner than in the year before.
September of the following year witnessed the end of Chris Evert's career in the US Open. For nearly twenty years the American from Florida had enriched and shaped the tennis scene: eighteen Grand Slam titles, a total of 157 championships titles, 1304 match victories, nearly ten million dollars in prize money all added up to an impressive achievement.
She had also supplied the press with a fair share of gossip: an engagement to her colleague Jimmy Conners; a marriage to the tennis professional John Lloyd and the fight against Martina Navratilova, which had turned from rivalry to friendship, all made good stories for the headlines. With Andy Mill and her two children she withdrew into her private life.
1989
Finals: Gabriela Sabatini (ARG) - Mary Joe Fernandez (USA)
7:6 6:4Championship Prize: Porsche 944 S2 Cabriolet
Prize Money: $250,000**
The spectators longed to see the beautiful Argentinian player emerge as the winner - and the beautiful Argentinian longed for a red hot Porsche 944 S2. Gabriela Sabatini, number three in the world ranking and the number one in Filderstadt fulfilled her fans' and her own longing in that year.
Both women had dropped out of the tournament at an early stage in the previous year, Gabriela Sabatini was beaten by Jana Novotna in the first round. Mary Joe Fernandez had to give up in the second round due to a back injury. In 1989, these two ladies provided the spectators with a most stunning final.