IGA SWIATEK NEEDS JUST TWO MORE WINS FOR PERFECT WIMBLEDON DRESS REHEARSAL – SEMI-FINALS AGAINST BRONZETTI ON FRIDAY

Iga Swiatek is getting better and better on her Road to Wimbledon: the four-time Grand Slam winner defeated world No. 39 Anna Blinkova 6-3, 6-2 in 73 minutes in the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open presented by Engel & Völkers and is just two wins away from her first grass-court title. “That was a solid performance from me. I’m very happy that I can use the time between Roland Garros and Wimbledon. This time here in Bad Homburg is really helping me. I’m getting more confident and hopefully that will help me in the next two weeks,” Swiatek said, looking ahead to next Monday’s grass-court classic at Church Road.

The world number one will face Italy’s Lucia Bronzetti in the semifinals (2:30 p.m.) in Bad Homburg’s Kurpark on Friday. The hr television will broadcast this match live – co-commentator is tournament ambassador Angelique Kerber.

In the second preliminary round match (not before 6:30 p.m.), Emma Navarro (USA) will play either second seed Liudmila Samsonova or former Bad Homburg finalist Katerina Siniakova from the Czech Republic. The duel between the two had to be postponed until Friday on Thursday evening when the score was 1-1 due to darkness.

Crowd favorite Swiatek again showed a commanding performance in front of 3500 spectators on the once again sold-out Spielbank Bad Homburg Centre Court. “My serve worked well and I was able to use the momentum in both sets,” said the Pole, who managed a break against Lisicki defeater Blinkova at 2:2 in both the first and second set. Swiatek had won the 2018 junior women’s Wimbledon tournament, but is still waiting for her first grass-court title on the tour.

Rebeka Masarova, who has been so spirited in the spa town so far, was unlucky: the Basel-born Spaniard twisted her left knee after winning the first set (7:6) and at 1-1 in the second set against Navarro and had to retire after a short break for treatment. “Of course you don’t want to win like that, I feel sorry for Rebeka. I hope she will be fit again quickly,” emphasized the world number 60 Navarro.

In strong form these days presents the next Swiatek opponent Bronzetti. The number 65 in the WTA rankings eliminated the new Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva with 6:4, 6:3. Bronzetti had won her second WTA title in Rabat in May.

The matches in overview – Friday, June 30:

Continued quarterfinals (1 p.m.): Liudmila Samsonova (No. 2) – Katerina Siniakova (Czech Republic) 4:6, 7:5 1. Semifinals (2:30 p.m./live on hr): Iga Swiatek (Poland/No. 1) – Lucia Bronzetti (Italy).

2nd semifinal (not before 6.30 p.m./live on Eurosport and in hr stream): winner Liudmila Samsonova/Katerina Siniakova – Emma Navarro (USA)