Jessica Pegula Urges Iga Swiatek to ‘Cut Some Slack’ After Pole’s Bad Homburg Heartbreak

At the Bad Homburg Open, Iga Swiatek progressed to a grass-court final for the first time in her career.

Jessica Pegula Urges Iga Swiatek to ‘Cut Some Slack’ After Pole’s Bad Homburg Heartbreak

Jessica Pegula, Iga Swiatek (Image via X/Bad Homburg Open, Game, Set & Talk)

Iga Swiatek reached a final for the first time this year. When the tennis world thought Swiatek would progress to a final on clay, she knocked out two-time Grand Slam finalist Jasmine Paolini in the semifinal to reach the championship match of the Bad Homburg Open which she played to start her campaign on grass following the clay swing.

The Pole, however, couldn’t cross the final hurdle in the form of Jessica Pegula, who denied her the title in straight sets. Had she won, the 24-year-old would have lifted her first title since winning the Roland Garros last year by beating Paolini.

Swiatek, who also played her first grass-court final, broke down in tears but during the presentation ceremony, she saw the positives. She said reaching the final gave her some hope about her game on grass after which, the 2024 US Open finalist urged her to be easy on herself.

Congrats to Iga, on a great week, and to your team. I know you say you can’t play on grass, but trust me, you’re still very good on grass, so cut yourself some slack.

It was the American ace’s fifth win over the five-time Grand Slam champion in their 11th encounter. They also faced each other for the first time on grass.

While the four-time Roland Garros champion has never tasted victory on grass, Pegula has now become a two-time champion on the surface following her win in the 2024 Berlin Open. In Berlin this year, the 31-year-old failed to defend her title, losing to Liudmila Samsonova in the fourth round.

At Wimbledon, Pegula has never progressed beyond the quarterfinals. She reached the last eight in 2023, losing to eventual champion Marketa Vondrousova. Last year in the grass-court Major, Pegula was defeated in the second round by Wang Xinyu.

Iga Swiatek is determined to give her best at Wimbledon

Iga Swiatek has never reached the final of Wimbledon. She was the quarterfinalist in the third Major of the season in 2023. Last year, Yulia Putintseva ended her run in the third round.

Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)
Iga Swiatek (via X/The Tennis Letter)

Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tournament where Swiatek has never reached the semifinals. But her campaign in Bad Homburg gave her some confidence about her performance on grass and now she is determined to give her best at Wimbledon.

I’m proud of the work we put over last few weeks to improve, to take another steps. This everyday effort and commitment with a lot of grit and fun lead to great result that makes me go to Wimbledon with satisfaction and determination to progress every week on the court and face next challenges. And we will see how it goes.

Iga Swiatek wrote on Instagram

Check out her post here:

Because of her Bad Homburg run, Swiatek reached the fourth position on the points table. But she will be the eighth seed at Wimbledon because the tournament used the ranking for the draw when she stood in the eighth spot.

Iga Swiatek to face Polina Kudermetova in the first round of Wimbledon

Though Swiatek hasn’t yet lifted a title since last year’s Roland Garros, she has progressed to every quarterfinal except for the Miami Open where Danielle Collins knocked her out in the third round. Swiatek will kick-start her campaign at Wimbledon on July 1.

Iga Swiatek (4)
Iga Swiatek (Image via X/The Tennis Letter)

She will lock horns with an unseeded Polina Kudermetova. The Russian ace will meet Swiatek for the first time in her career. Like Swiatek, Kudermetova too has not yet lifted a title this year. The World No.64 in fact has never won a singles title.

Kudermetova also has not yet won a match since the Charleston Open. She played four tournaments then, losing all in her opening rounds. Before arriving in London, she was defeated by her sister Veronika Kudermetova at the Libema Open.

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