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Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Iga Swiatek and Alex Eala achieve firsts on the grass as Wimbledon comes into view
'I didn't expect to win this match' isn't a phrase that comes out of a five-time Grand Slam champion's mouth very often. But after Iga Świątek cruised past Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 to reach the first WTA Tour grass-court final of her career, it was the first thing on her mind. Perhaps Paolini being a Wimbledon finalist last year was a factor. Perhaps Świątek never going beyond the quarterfinals in south-west London was too. But for 16 games Friday in Bad Homburg, it was the Pole who looked like the master of the grass. She's looked that way for most of the tournament in Germany, using her serve like she hasn't done for a while to get out of adversity against the powerful players that have troubled her in the past. Advertisement Against Paolini, however, Świątek was dominant. Her confidence on her forehand oozed out into heavy, sharply angled balls that kept Paolini pinned behind the baseline, stopping her from coming into the net, where she has the edge on Świątek. She leapt on Paolini's serve at every opportunity, zipping return winners past her opponent — something she has been more familiar with happening to her in recent times. Świątek broke Paolini five times and had break points for a sixth, ultimately easing into her first final since last year's French Open, in which she will face world No. 3 Jessica Pegula. It caps a strange 12 months for Świątek, in which she has had her less-than-perfect results scrutinized at her best events over and above her improvements across the calendar. She is No. 3 in the WTA Tour rankings race, just a few hundred points behind No. 2 Coco Gauff, and made the semifinals at both the Australian and French Opens. She was a point from the final in Melbourne and she has made the semifinals of five other tournaments, including in Bad Homburg. But she has become synonymous with era-defining excellence on clay, and so her dips from that excellence, which have included at times heavy defeats, have taken greater space than her successes. The same cannot be said for Alexandra Eala, who so memorably beat Świątek at the Miami Open in March. On the same day as Świątek's success, Eala, 20, became the first Filipino to reach a WTA Tour final, beating Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 at Eastbourne in the UK. It's the latest in a succession of firsts for Eala and Filipino tennis, and it is not one of her biggest wins: in Miami, she beat Madison Keys and Jelena Ostapenko, two more Grand Slam champions, as well as Świątek. But Eala's use of angle, a devastatingly powerful and disguised down-the-line forehand, and an improved serve — which has looked attackable throughout her rise inside the WTA top 100 — could foretell more success on the grass, a surface which appears to suit her game. Her mastery of the wind on the south coast of the UK, which buffeted across the courts and tested players' limits, also showed off her ability to adapt the length of her swing and to redirect an incoming ball rather than swinging out on every shot. Advertisement At Wimbledon, she will achieve another first. Eala will play defending champion Barbora Krejčíková on Centre Court, and with Krejčíková having withdrawn from Eastbourne with a thigh injury, the ingredients are there for another announcement of her ability to the tennis world. First, Eala will go in search of her first WTA Tour title, with a final against Maya Joint Saturday, the same day that Świątek and Pegula will play. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Tennis, Women's Tennis 2025 The Athletic Media Company
Straits Times
21 hours ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Swiatek cruises past second-seed Paolini to reach first grass final
BAD HOMBURG, Germany - Five-times Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek crushed second seed Jasmine Paolini 6-1 6-3 on Friday to reach the Bad Homburg Open final and stay in the hunt for her first career title on grass. She will face American top seed Jessica Pegula, who had to dig deep to beat Czech Linda Noskova 6-7(2) 7-5 6-1 in just over two hours. With Wimbledon starting next week, Swiatek, the former world number one, showed she was on the right track on the surface, outclassing the Italian, last year's Wimbledon finalist. "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 a 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 has a 5-0 lead in their head-to-head matches. The Pole, who has won the French Open four times along with one U.S. Open, did not play any other grass tournaments this season ahead of next week's Wimbledon start, instead opting for a week of training in Mallorca before competing in Bad Homburg. She was never troubled by the Italian in the first set as she raced through it in 29 minutes courtesy of three breaks. The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set but Paolini continued to struggle to hold serve and contain the aggressive Pole who went 4-2 up. Swiatek sealed victory with a forehand winner on her third match point to book a final spot against Pegula, who had to work much harder to come from a set down and oust the talented 20-year-old Czech. Noskova had Pegula on the ropes, having won the first set and leading 5-4 in the second before the American pulled herself together, started returning better and completed her comeback on her third match point. "She was serving really good and I could not get a read on it," Pegula said. "Then I was able to start reading it. I am happy that I could put myself back in the match." "I feel when she is firing on all cylinders, she is really really good," Pegula said of Swiatek, her opponent in the final. "That's why she is a champion and was number one. I hit pretty low and flat and that hopefully could disrupt the rhythm." REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
News18
a day ago
- Sport
- News18
Bad Homburg Open: Iga Swiatek Moves Into Final With Win Over Jasmine Paolini
Pole Swiatek coasted to a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Italian Paolini to punch her ticket to the final. Iga Swiatek secured her berth in the final of the Bad Homburg Open on Friday with a win over Jasmine Paolini in the semifinal of the event in the suburb of Frankfurt, Germany. Pole Swiatek coasted to a 6-1, 6-3 triumph over Italian Paolini to punch her ticket to her first final on grass-court. 'I wasn't expecting to win this match, so I'm happy that I just did my job," Swiatek said following the victory. 'I knew how I wanted to play and I just went for it," the 24-year-old added. '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," Swiatek said crediting her opponent. Swiatek surrendered her opening service game on the day but hit back immediately to break back before closing out the opening set with five more games on the trot. Paolini did fare marginally better in the second set, however, she was no match for the Pole who closed out the matchup in straight sets in dominant fashion. Swiatek will take on either American Jessica Pegula or Czech Linda Noskova in the summit clash of the grass-court event which serves as a tune up to the prestigious Wimbledon. Swiatek, who has managed to clinch five Grand Slam titles in her nascent career, will face Russian Polina Kudermetova in her Wimbledon 2025 opener at the SW19. The Pole has clinched four of her major crowns on clay at the French Open with the other one coming at the US Open. Paolini will begin her quest for the coveted Wimbledon title with her fixture against Latvian Anastasija Sevastova. Location : Germany First Published: June 27, 2025, 19:56 IST
Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- Straits Times
Alexandra Eala makes history for the Philippines by reaching Eastbourne final
EASTBOURNE – Alexandra Eala became the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final, as she beat fellow qualifier Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on the Eastbourne grass on June 27. The 20-year-old left-hander, ranked 74th in the world, edged out a tight first set before losing five games in a row in the second as the match appeared to be slipping away. But she regrouped in the decider and survived a tough seventh game before breaking her French opponent's serve to lead 5-3. She then enjoyed a love service game hold to seal victory. In June 28's final she will face either Australia's Maya Joint or Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. 'I'm super happy because that was a tough match and there were some really tough moments where she was playing well,' said an emotional Eala, who is based in Mallorca and trains at the Rafa Nadal Academy. 'I sometimes didn't know how to get out of it. 'It was tough physically and mentally because she is a tough player and also came from qualifying.' Eala first made waves in March when she defeated three Grand Slam champions – Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek – on her way to the Miami Open semi-finals. It may be too early to say that she is a potential big star in women's tennis, but she has now indeed gone one step further to a title showdown. Her run will also not have gone unnoticed by reigning Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, who has been drawn to play her in the first round at the All England Club next week. Krejcikova reached the quarter-finals at Eastbourne but withdrew with a thigh injury on June 26. Meanwhile, five-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek crushed second seed Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 to reach the Bad Homburg Open final and stay in the hunt for her first career title on grass. With Wimbledon starting next week, the former world No. 1 showed she was on the right track on the surface, outclassing the Italian, last year's Wimbledon finalist. '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 a 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 has a 5-0 lead in their head-to-head matches. The Pole, who has won the French Open four times along with one US Open, did not play any other grass tournaments this season ahead of next week's Wimbledon start, instead opting for a week of training in Mallorca before competing in Bad Homburg. She was never troubled by the Italian in the first set as she raced through it in 29 minutes courtesy of three breaks. The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set but Paolini continued to struggle to hold serve and contain the aggressive Pole who went 4-2 up. Swiatek sealed victory with a forehand winner on her third match point to book a final spot where she will face either top seed Jessica Pegula or Czech Linda Noskova in Saturday's final. AFP, REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.
New Straits Times
a day ago
- Sport
- New Straits Times
Swiatek cruises past second-seed Paolini to reach first ever grass final
BAD HOMBURG: Five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek crushed second seed Jasmine Paolini 6-1, 6-3 today to reach the Bad Homburg Open final and stay in the hunt for her first career title on grass. With Wimbledon starting next week, the former world No. 1 showed she was on the right track on the surface, outclassing the Italian, last year's Wimbledon finalist. "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 a 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 has a 5-0 lead in their head-to-head matches. The Pole, who has won the French Open four times along with one US Open, did not play any other grass tournaments this season ahead of next week's Wimbledon start, instead opting for a week of training in Mallorca before competing in Bad Homburg. She was never troubled by the Italian in the first set as she raced through it in 29 minutes courtesy of three breaks. The pair traded breaks at the start of the second set but Paolini continued to struggle to hold serve and contain the aggressive Pole who went 4-2 up.
