Iga Swiatek`s wait for her first grass-court title, and indeed her first trophy on any surface in a year, persists after she lost to top seed Jessica Pegula in the final of the Bad Homburg Open.
Pegula triumphed with a 6-4, 7-5 victory, securing her ninth career title. This is her third win of 2025 and her second on grass, following her success at the German Open last year.
Swiatek, a former world No. 1, has accumulated 22 WTA titles throughout her career – 12 on hardcourts and 10 on clay. However, she had not previously reached a grass-court final before this event.
The Polish star has not won a tournament since claiming her fourth French Open title in five years in June 2024. Her match against Pegula in Bad Homburg was her first final appearance since then.
Pegula, who saved the only break point she faced during the match, complimented Swiatek afterwards, stating, “I know you say you can`t play on grass, but you are very, very good on grass. It was a special week.”
Swiatek echoed a positive sentiment despite the loss, commenting, “This tournament shows there is hope for me on grass.”
Swiatek, whose world ranking has dropped to eighth, is scheduled to face Polina Kudermetova of Russia in the first round at Wimbledon. She has never advanced beyond the quarter-finals in her five previous attempts at the prestigious grass-court tournament.
American Pegula, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist in 2023, will begin her challenge at the grass-court major against Elisabetta Cocciaretto of Italy.
Eala Misses Historic Win as Joint Triumphs in Eastbourne
In other results, Alexandra Eala narrowly missed becoming the first player from the Philippines to win a WTA title after being defeated by Maya Joint at the Eastbourne Open.
Eala, who is set to play against reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova in the first round of next week`s Grand Slam, lost to her Australian opponent with a final score of 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (12-10) following a captivating final-set tie-break.
This marks Joint`s second trophy in as many months, having previously won in Morocco in May.
The Australian`s path to the Eastbourne title included a three-set victory over British No. 1 Emma Raducanu in the round of 16 and a win against three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur in the round of 32.
Fritz Claims Fourth Eastbourne Crown
In the men`s event, Taylor Fritz clinched his fourth Eastbourne title and second in consecutive years by defeating fellow American Jenson Brooksby 7-5, 6-1.
Fritz, who was also victorious at this event in 2019 and 2022, had been pushed to three sets in his preceding three matches against Joao Fonseca, Marcos Giron, and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
However, the world No. 5 was dominant against lucky loser Brooksby, who had been eliminated in the second round of qualifying. Fritz won eight of the final nine games in the match.
Fritz will commence his Wimbledon campaign on Monday against the powerful-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. He will be aiming to better his performance from last year, where he reached the quarter-finals.
The 27-year-old commented on his success in Eastbourne, saying, “There`s something about Eastbourne. I just love it here. Every year I come here, and it`s such a good week. This year has been different, and I`ve had to fight through my matches. I feel like I`ve really upped my level.”
He added about his readiness for Wimbledon, “I`m going to be ready to go. I`d much rather go into the tournament with confidence and a title.”
Earlier this month, Fritz defeated Alexander Zverev to secure the Stuttgart Open title. He has won seven of his eight grass-court matches this year, with his only loss occurring against Corentin Moutet in the round of 32 at Queen`s.
In other news, Corentin Moutet was defeated by Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands in the final of the Mallorca Championships on Saturday. Griekspoor won 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), claiming his first title in two years.
