When your first car is a Porsche, you know you’re doing something right. That’s exactly the case for Elena Rybakina, who won a Porsche Taycan 4S Sport Turismo last year by capturing the WTA 500 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart last year. At the time, there was just one catch—she didn’t have a driver’s license.
Fast forward to 2025, and Rybakina can finally enjoy the ride. She’s now a licensed driver, proudly cruising in her Porsche. But despite the full-circle moment, she won’t be returning to Stuttgart this year to defend her title, citing a scheduling conflict after helping Kazakhstan qualify for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.
The world No. 10 Rybakina told reporters after defeating Kim Birrell 6-3 7-6(4) in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers in Australia:
“Driving going pretty well. I got my license… I did preseason in Dubai. So I’ve been going around with the team. I was dropping and taking everybody… So I was kind of a driver.”
“Driving going pretty wheel.”
Look out for the Rybakina Porsche cruising on a road near you 🏎️#BJKCup pic.twitter.com/gN3iBUA1WP
— Billie Jean King Cup (@BJKCup) April 10, 2025
Despite now being fully licensed—and no doubt prepared for the iconic post-win victory spin on the court—she’s skipping the 2025 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix due to a conflict in schedule. After playing on hard courts in Australia to help Kazakhstan qualify for September’s Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, there simply wasn’t enough time to transition to European clay.
With the Stuttgart event kicking off on Monday, Rybakina can’t make it:
“I know that the schedule overall is very packed, and it’s not easy to even schedule Billie Jean King Cup. But ideally, if we go to one part of the world, it will be nicer to play the same part. Now, for example, the clay court [season] starts and [some have] already played even tournaments on clay. So to come back and play hard, it’s a bit tricky. And ideally, if there is a tournament, it’s better to schedule it closer to where we want to be.”
Instead of Stuttgart, Rybakina’s next tournament will be the Madrid Open, which starts on April 22nd. The Kazakh should then also play the Internazionali BNL d’Italia before going to the French Open.
Held at the Porsche-Arena since 2006, the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix has evolved into a major event on the European clay-court swing, serving as a key warm-up for Roland Garros. The 2025 edition features a stacked draw, with 11 of the Top 20 players in the WTA Rankings confirmed to compete. The prize up for grabs? A sweet €142,610 and, yes, a brand-new Porsche Macan Turbo.
