Iga Swiatek continued her impressive run on grass with a commanding 6-1, 6-3 victory over second seed Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals of the Bad Homburg Open on Friday, securing her place in the final and staying on course for her first-ever title on the surface.
The five-time Grand Slam champion will now face American top seed Jessica Pegula, who had to dig deep to overcome Czech talent Linda Noskova in a hard-fought 6-7(2), 7-5, 6-1 battle lasting just over two hours.
With Wimbledon looming just days away, Swiatek, the former world number one, sent a strong message that she is adapting well to grass-court tennis. She outclassed Paolini, last year’s Wimbledon finalist, in a one-sided affair that saw her take charge early and never let up.
“I am super happy and I was not expecting this. I just did my job, and I knew what I wanted to play and I went for it,” Swiatek said in her post-match interview. “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. I just wanted to go for it, and go for my shots.”
Swiatek, who has won four French Open titles and one U.S. Open, dominated the first set in just 29 minutes. She broke Paolini’s serve three times as the Italian struggled to cope with the Pole’s aggressive style.
The second set started with both players exchanging breaks, but Swiatek quickly regained control, breaking Paolini once again to go 4-2 up. The match was sealed with a powerful forehand winner on Swiatek’s third match point, securing a 6-1, 6-3 victory.
“I have a 5-0 lead in our head-to-head, so I was confident going into the match,” Swiatek added.
In contrast, Pegula had to battle back from a set down against Noskova, who looked poised to claim a major scalp after taking the first set and leading 5-4 in the second. However, Pegula regained her composure, improved her returns, and closed out the match with a dominant final set.
“She was serving really good, and I could not get a read on it,” Pegula admitted. “Then I was able to start reading it. I’m happy that I could put myself back in the match.”
Pegula, now looking ahead to her final showdown with Swiatek, acknowledged the challenge that lies ahead. “I feel when she is firing on all cylinders, she is really, really good,” Pegula said. “That’s why she’s a champion and was number one. I hit pretty low and flat, and that hopefully could disrupt the rhythm.”
With both players in fine form, Sunday’s final promises to be an exciting encounter between two of the game’s brightest stars as they gear up for the challenge of Wimbledon next week.