BAD HOMBURG, Germany — Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek reached her first-ever grass-court final on Friday defeating last year’s Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the semifinals at Bad Homburg.
Iga Swiatek AFP PHOTO
The former world No. 1 swept past second seed Paolini, 6-1, 6-3, in just over an hour to reach her first final in a year since she lifted her fourth French Open trophy at Roland Garros.
Swiatek will bid for her 23rd career title on Saturday against US top seed Jessica Pegula, who rallied past Czech Linda Noskova, 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 6-1, in the northern suburbs of Frankfurt.
Earlier, fourth seed Swiatek lost her opening service game but then settled in to break back to love and dominated Paolini for her fifth win in as many meetings against the Italian.
“I wasn’t expecting to win this match, so I’m happy that I just did my job,” Swiatek, 24, said.
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“I knew how I wanted to play, and I just went for it. I’m happy I kept the momentum going until the end of the match. Jasmine, you can’t let her get back in the game because she’s a fighter.”
Pole Swiatek is playing her first tournament since the three-time defending champion lost to world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals of Roland Garros.
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She has never before reached a final on grass, and her best result at Wimbledon is a quarterfinal finish in 2023.
Pegula, 31, won her fifth semifinal of the season out of as many contested and will attempt to lift her third trophy of the season after Austin (hard court) and Charleston (clay).
A US Open finalist in 2024 and winner of eight WTA Tour tournaments since the start of her career, Pegula has only one title on grass, last year in Berlin.
Paolini, 29, will now head to London, where she will begin her Wimbledon campaign against 402nd-ranked Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
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Former US Open champion Swiatek will face Russian Polina Kudermetova, ranked 63, in Wimbledon, with Pegula opening her campaign against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
Meanwhile, Carlos Alcaraz will start his Wimbledon defense against Fabio Fognini while world No. 1 Jannik Sinner faces a potential semifinal clash against Novak Djokovic following Friday’s draw.
On the women’s side, reigning champion Barbora Krejcikova will begin her campaign against rising star Alex Eala on Center Court if she can recover from injury.
Spain’s Alcaraz, who has beaten Djokovic in the past two finals at the All England Club, returns to Wimbledon, which starts on Monday, on a career-best 18-match winning streak.
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He is aiming to become just the fifth man to win at least three straight Wimbledon titles in the Open Era after Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer and Djokovic.
The Spaniard, 22, has a 2-0 head-to-head record against Italian Fognini, who is 38.
Sinner’s pursuit of a maiden Wimbledon crown could hinge on a heavyweight semifinal clash with seven-time champion Djokovic.
The Italian, who lost to Alcaraz in the recent French Open final, opens against compatriot Luca Nardi at the grass-court major.
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Djokovic, competing at his lowest seeding (sixth) since 2018, will begin his campaign for a record-tying eighth Wimbledon men’s title against Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
