ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA – The WTA today pays tribute to German star Julia Goerges as she calls time on a 15-year career that saw her capture a total of 12 WTA titles and achieve a coveted Top 10 singles ranking.
Goerges made her professional debut on the ITF Circuit in Germany in 2005 and contested her first WTA main draw as a qualifier at the Qatar Total Open in Doha in 2007. She collected the first of her seven WTA singles titles on the red clay of Bad Gastein, Austria in 2010, and the following year became just the second German woman, after Anke Huber, to triumph at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart. There, in front of her home fans, a No.32-ranked Goerges famously defeated World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki in the final – a feat she would repeat a couple of weeks later in the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open.
Six years later, Goerges captured her second Premier-level event at Moscow’s Kremlin Cup and at her next tournament she punctuated the 2017 season with the biggest title of her career, the WTA Elite Trophy Zhuhai. Carrying that momentum into 2018 with another trophy run at the ASB Classic in Auckland, Goerges compiled a 15-match win streak across her hat-trick of titles and into the second round at the Australian Open.
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The 2018 season also saw Goerges achieve her best Grand Slam singles result – the semifinals at Wimbledon, where it took Serena Williams to stop her. With that effort, Goerges had reached at least the Round of 16 at all four majors. Already the eighth German woman to crack the Top 10 in singles (joining Sylvia Hanika, Bettina Bunge, Claudia Kohde-Kilsch, Stefanie Graf, Anke Huber, Andrea Petkovic and Angelique Kerber), Goerges duly achieved her career-high ranking of No.9, the week of August 20, 2018.
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Goerges closed out 2018 by winning her sixth singles title at BGL BNP Paribas Open in Luxembourg; across the 2017 and 2018 seasons, she posted a combined record of 94-47, the third most wins in that time on Tour behind Karolina Pliskova (102) and Elina Svitolina (97). Appropriately enough, she won the seventh and final singles crown of her career by defeating Bianca Andreescu to defend her title at Auckland in 2019; in 11 tournament appearances there, Goerges posted a 27-9 record, the most match wins in tournament history.
“Julia’s powerful playing style, exemplary sportsmanship and thoughtful nature made her a fantastic ambassador for women’s tennis and a fan favorite around the world,” said Steve Simon, WTA Chairman and CEO. “On behalf of the WTA family, I congratulate her on her wonderful career and the contributions she will leave with our sport and wish her every success and happiness for the future. She will certainly be missed.”
Throughout her career, the German righthander shone especially on serve: since 2008, when match stats were instigated, only Serena Williams (4,019) and Karolina Pliskova (3,191), have hit more aces than Goerges (2,931) and in 2018 she led the WTA with 492 aces. That season she also led the Tour in first serve points won percentage (73.8%) and Break Points Saved Percentage (63.5%). On two occasions (2019 US Open—R16 vs. Donna Vekic and 2019 Luxembourg—R32 vs. Misaki Doi) she delivered 21 aces in a single match.
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With a career-high ranking of No.12 in doubles (achieved the week of August 22, 2016) Goerges is also just one of three German women to reach the Top 15 in both disciplines, along with Graf and Kohde-Kilsch, All up, Goerges went 5-11 in WTA doubles finals and in 2016 qualified for the WTA Finals in Singapore alongside Karolina Pliskova. In mixed doubles, she reached the final at Roland Garros in 2014 with Nenad Zimonjic.
Additionally, Goerges represented her country with distinction, playing 17 ties in the Billie Jean King Cup between 2008-19 — including the final against Czech Republic in 2014 — and posting a 13-12 win-loss record across singles and doubles. At the London Olympic Games in 2012 she upset No.2 seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the first round and went on to reach the Round of 16.
She steps away from the game with a 479-337 singles record across all levels, including 316 wins at Tour-level (main draw) and with a 54-49 record at Grand Slams.
