2013 New Haven Open Feature Interview: Auf Geht’s @JuliaGoerges! #NHO13
Stephan Fogleman, TennisEastCoast.com

Julia Goerges is a fun, friendly and well-balanced person off the court. No, she won’t make you laugh so hard your sides hurt. That’s Andrea Petkovic’s job. But Goerges possesses a deep appreciation of her job and her colleagues. She opened up with me at New Haven on Monday after a first round win.

Julia’s had a rocky ride since winning a title and a Porsche in Stuttgart in 2011. Two years later, she’s finally back where she wants. She discussed the on-court and off-court resiliency required to overcome tough opponents and nagging injuries. She also mentioned her love for Bayern Munich of the Bundesliga and reminds us that German footballers follow women’s tennis, too.

How are you feeling right before the 2013 US Open? 

Physically, I’m in great shape. I have my team around me all the time. Body-wise, I’m in pretty good shape.  Just need to bring it on the court. So far, I’ve had ups and downs in every year in my career so far but I still went up at the year’s end ranking every year. But I had a pretty sloppy last three months. This year, it’s going to be tough. I had some pretty sloppy matches. It’s never easy getting a win under your belt after some tough matches.

On her never give up attitude:

I think you get used to it. You need to have it in your body and your mind. If you do this job, you need to do it 100%. Selling your body and character, as expensive as it can be. If you give your 100%, there’s always a chance you win a match, and that’s how it should be.

How important are the fans to you?

It’s great to have great fans behind you, who are supporting you also in rough times. You can support someone who is always winning, but you always need to stand behind the player you’re a fan of when they’re going sloppy as well. I appreciate it a lot and I can be proud of them. It’s nice to share some thoughts about tour life. It’s nice to give back to them for their support.

On German Tennis Pride:

We have a lot of players in the top 50. German Tennis is doing pretty well at the moment. We get a lot of questions about Steffi (Graf) and the history and will we never achieve what she achieved, but we try to come as close as we can. I actually played an exhibition two years ago in Halle with her. It’s kind of a big moment when you meet her and you get to know her. It’s just amazing when you meet her.  She can give you a lot of thoughts and experience on what she achieved in her career. It’s great to share those moments with her.

On Bundesliga:

I’m a Bayern Munich fan. A big one. It’s always been like that. It’s been 10 years now since I’m a fan of them. I’m going a little bit crazy with them. It’s nice that they took all three trophies home last year. We can get a little excited about it.

Eintracht Frankfurt Fan Andrea Petkovic told me there’s a big match coming up between your two teams?

They just played last week and Bayern won 1-0 in Frankfurt!

It’s just great when a lot of players have different clubs to support. It’s just fun when you can make jokes here and there. Overall, I think a lot of soccer guys are interested in tennis.  It’s fun when you’re interested in Bundesliga and they’re interested in your sport.

Julia Goerges plays Sloane Stephens tonight in prime time on New Haven’s Stadium Court. She’s sure to give 100%. New Haven has been ripe for upsets this week. Anything can happen here.