That the Standard seems to be the GrandSlam of choice for the majority of the Stuttgart public can easily be explained. On eight out of nine occasions since 2008, the winners were German couples. Dmitry Zharkov and Olga Kulikova of Russia have won everything there is to win and kept on top of their game ever since their last defeat in Shanghai, China in the GrandSlam Final last year. Over the past two years they have claimed two World and two European titles. They most recently celebrated their first victory in the GrandSlam Hong Kong, but they have never won in Stuttgart. The fight between the two couples will probably be as tight as ever, threatening to eclipse the great dancing put in by the third: Evaldas Sodeika and Ieva Zukauskaite of Lithuania. But let's not worry about them: their confidence is growing with every time they take the floor.
