Hamburg, Germany, August 25, 2017 - Defending SWATCH FIVB World Tour Finals champions Laura Ludwig and Kira Walkenhorst of Germany advanced to the semi-finals of this year's US$800,000 event at Rothenbaum Stadium by eliminating a team from Switzerland here Friday afternoon.
Seeded 10th in the third annual event after gaining a "wild card" for entry, Ludwig and Walkenhorst posted a 2-0 (21-12, 21-18) win in 35 minutes over ninth-seeded Joana Heidrich and Anouk Vergé-Dépré of Switzerland. It was the second meeting this season between the two teams with the Swiss winning a match in mid-June in The Hague.
While Heidrich and Vergé-Dépré placed fifth and shared $20,000 in earnings at the event, Ludwig and Walkenhorst will be seeking the $100,000 first-place prize for the third-straight season. The Germans placed second in 2015 in the United States at Fort Lauderdale and captured the top spot on the podium last October in Toronto, Canada.
Ludwig and Walkenhorst will play either third-seeded Melissa Humana-Paredes/Sarah Pavan of Canada or 12th-seeded Nina Betschart/Tanja Hüberli of Switzerland in the first women's semi-final at 8 p.m. (local time) Saturday on the center court at Rothenbaum Stadium.