Pegula edges Swiatek to clinch Bad Homburg title
The American came through against Swiatek 6-4, 7-5 to win a ninth career WTA singles title
Jessica Pegula after winning Bad Homburg (Imago/PSNewz)
Jessica Pegula completed the perfect Wimbledon preparation by claiming her third title of the season at the expense of Iga Swiatek, defeating the Pole 6-4, 7-5 to win the Bad Homburg Open.
It is the American’s ninth WTA career title and comes after title runs in Austin and Charleston earlier in the year, won on hard and clay courts respectively.
Today’s triumph means that Pegula has now claimed a title on each surface in 2025, as she denied Swiatek the chance to lift her first grass-court title.
Despite the straight-set score line, however, this was a closer contest than it would immediately appear on paper. It was a typically grass-court encounter, with breaks of serve coming at a premium as small margins ultimately dictated the outcome.
Swiatek, now languishing at eighth in the world after having led the WTA rankings for well over two years, could only muster a single break point – one that remained unconverted.
Pegula was rock solid on serve in a clinical and highly professional performance from the world No 3. She broke in the seventh game en route to a deserved one-set lead, before another single break in the eleventh game of the second set was again enough to seal it.
Pegula stepped up to the baseline a game later to confidently serve out a thoroughly impressive win and deliver a second grass-court title to add to her Berlin triumph last summer.
positives for Swiatek as pegula sends statement of intent for wimbledon
It has been a testing twelve months for Swiatek, who has now gone over a year without a title, having relinquished her dominance at Roland-Garros with a painful loss to Aryna Sabalenka in the last four.
But this week has signalled a positive ability to compete on grass – the Pole’s least favoured surface and one she is yet to fully master. Swiatek reached the final without the drop of a set, and looked more comfortable with her movement in Bad Homburg than she often has on grass courts in the past.
“This tournament shows there is hope for me on grass,” a visibly emotional Swiatek told the crowd.
“I’m happy we can play here and I’m happy I could prove that.”
For the world No 3 and top seed, however, this week was the perfect way to ease into another crucial fortnight at SW19.
Pegula has quietly been one of the most consistent performers on the WTA this season, and she has once again demonstrated her prowess on this surface in the business-like manner with which she dispatched Swiatek.
As attention now turns towards Wimbledon, there will be few in the field eager to run into the American in South-West London, who has positioned herself as an unexpected but very real contender for the title.
