Porsche has been supporting the world’s biggest tennis association since 2012 – and with success as in 2014 Porsche Team Germany, spearheaded by Porsche Brand Ambassador Angelique Kerber, reached the Fed Cup final for the first time in 22 years. Porsche Team Germany players also won six WTA tournaments in 2014: Andrea Petkovic in Charleston, Bad Gastein and Sofia, Mona Barthel in Bastad, Sabine Lisicki in Hong Kong and Annika Beck in Luxemburg.
The improvements made by the up-and-coming young players supported within the Porsche Talent Team set-up was crowned by Anna-Lena Friedsam winning her first WTA tournament in Suzhou/China. Carina Witthöft has broken into the Top 100 in the world rankings and caused a surprise at the Australian Open in January 2015 when reaching the third round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time.
A heart for the youngsters
Through the cooperation with the DTB, Porsche has sparked a new dynamism within German women’s tennis. “We want German players to also be successful as a team,” said Matthias Müller, CEO of Porsche AG, when announcing the partnership. Germany’s junior players, whose development is also close to Porsche’s heart, will also profit from the success of the top women. “Playing tennis is far more fun for youngsters when they have role models. We want to play our part in making sure there are such role models in the future too,” continued Matthias Müller.
The partnership with the DTB also demonstrates a clear commitment by Porsche for the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. “We also want to continue to present our audience in the Porsche Arena with the world’s top players and the best Germans – and if possible a German winner every now and again,” said Matthias Müller. Markus Günthardt, the Tournament Director of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, believes the long-standing tournament will therefore become even more attractive: “The players supported by Porsche are quite capable of winning important tournaments and can maybe make a major breakthrough in the near future. We’ve had to wait a long time since the Steffi Graf and Anke Huber era for good German players to emerge.”
Porsche embraces its social responsibility
The partnership with the Deutsche Tennis Bund is an essential part of Porsche’s sponsoring concept which covers every part of society. Thus the company is also the partner of the world famous Stuttgart Ballet and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra under the banner “Premium meets Premium”. With the message “Turbo for Talents”, Porsche and the second division football club RB Leipzig recently started a trendsetting partnership focussing on youth support at the location in the federal state of Saxony. In the Porsche Basketball Academy in Ludwigsburg – a cooperation involving 11 partner clubs and 55 partner schools – about 2,500 children from the region regularly play basketball under professional supervision.
Porsche additionally supports junior activities in sport clubs in the states of Baden Württemberg and Saxony – including at the long-established Stuttgarter Kickers football club. A variety of scientific and charity projects are also supported. By sponsoring a broad spectrum of activities, Porsche wants to further embrace its social responsibility within society.