Swiatek pulls out of Bad Homburg semis with suspected food poisoning; Bronzetti makes final

World No 1 Iga Swiatek suffered a blow to her preparations for Wimbledon – and her hopes of a first grass-court title – as she was forced to withdraw from the semi-finals of the WTA event in Bad Homburg with suspected food poisoning.

The Pole said she had been up most of the night with a fever and believed she had food poisoning. Italian Lucia Bronzetti moved into the final as a result.

Bronzetti, ranked No 65, won against Austrian Julia Grabher (6-4, 6-1), Egyptian Mayar Sherif, the No 4 seed (1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-3) and Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva, the No 8 seed (6-4, 6-3) in the previous rounds of the Bad Homburg tournament.

I'm so sorry but I have to pull out of my match today. I had a restless night because of some fever and possible food poisoning. I'm not able to perform today and I need to take care of myself. I hope I'll be fine soon. Your support in Bad Homburg was amazing, thank you. pic.twitter.com/pAuN8Ug4u7

— Iga Świątek (@iga_swiatek) June 30, 2023

Earlier in the tournament, Swiatek, ranked No 1, beat German Tatjana Maria (5-7, 6-2, 6-0), Swiss qualifier Jil Teichmann (6-3, 6-1) and Russian Anna Blinkova, the No 9 seed (6-3, 6-2).