For Iga Swiatek to even reach the grass-court Bad Homburg Open final was a surprise. While she has won five Grand Slams, four of them have been on the clay of the French Open. The Pole has never been overly successful on grass.
Her best performance at Wimbledon was reaching the quarterfinals in 2023. She certainly won't be considered a favorite in the 2025 event, either. Neither will the Pole's Bad Homburg Open final opponent, Jessica Pegula, either. But at least the American had won a title on grass.
Not that Pegula hasn't done any better at Wimbledon, which begins on Monday, June 30, as she has only made it to one quarterfinal as well (also in 2023). For either player to build the confidence needed to succeed in London this year, they likely needed to find a way to lift the trophy in Homburg.
Jessica Pegula defeats Iga Swiatek to win the 2025 Bad Homburg Open
On a warm Saturday afternoon, the players started well with their service games, through the first six games, even though many games went to deuce. At 3-all, Pegula got the first break, though, with solid forehands that pushed Swiatek deep on the court. She kept holding to take the set 6-4.
The second set mirrored the first in that, while at times it was a struggle to hold serve, each player continued to do so until Pegula got a break of Swiatek to lead 6-5. She did so with some magnificent cross-court winners and guessed correctly at what Swiatek was attempting to do. She held to take the match and the title 6-4 7-5.
Most impressively, Pegula was not broken once in the final. She only faced one break point.
Next up for both players is Wimbledon, of course, and while neither has had tremendous success at the major, the high levels each player has reached during the week in Homburg should give each hope for making deep runs in London.
The key for Swiatek will be to maintain her serve, while Pegula has the tools to be very good but rarely elite. If she can build some momentum, she certainly has the attitude that she won't quit on herself or the match. That alone should make her dangerous at Wimbledon.