TOP MATCH RIGHT AT THE START ON MONDAY: WORLD NUMBER ONE IGA SWIATEK MEETS TATJANA MARIA

For the newly-crowned French Open winner Iga Swiatek, her title mission at the Bad Homburg Open presented by Engel & Völkers (June 24 to July 01) begins with a special challenge. The four-time Grand Slam winner will face last year’s Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria in her opening match on Monday (6 p.m.).

This was the result of the draw early Friday evening at the FERI AG headquarters, with ex-professional Andrea Petkovic acting as Lady Luck. “Tatjana against Iga, that could also be a final encounter,” Petkovic said of the promising duel on the Spielbank Bad Homburg Centre Court, for which tickets are still available.

Iga Swiatek, who has been at the top of the world rankings for more than a year, has been preparing for her only grass-court tournament before Wimbledon under perfect conditions in Bad Homburg since Tuesday. The Pole has never played against Tatjana Maria before.

Wildcard holder Sabine Lisicki, a 2013 Wimbledon finalist and world record holder on grass, will face world No. 39 Lin Zhu of China in her first-round match. German number two Anna-Lena Friedsam benefited from the injury-related cancellation of Jule Niemeier, who cannot compete in the Kurpark due to a wrist blister. German number two Friedsam moved straight into the main draw thanks to a wildcard and will challenge Egypt’s Mayar Sherif.

Tomorrow, Saturday (June 24), local hero Mara Guth also has the chance to become the fourth German player to advance to the 32-player main draw by winning the qualifying round.

At the draw ceremony, which was moderated by Matthias Stach and attended by Marcel Renné, CEO FERI AG, Bad Homburg’s mayor Alexander Hetjes and tournament director Aljoscha Thron, the mood shortly before the start of the tournament was one of exuberance and anticipation for the third edition of the Bad Homburg Open presented by Engel & Völkers.

The draw in the overview can be found here.

Tom Walker concert on Saturday and exciting theme days in Baloise Park Village.

The lawn event on the picturesque grounds of TC Bad Homburg also promises plenty of Wimbledon flair off the courts and first-class entertainment with summer cinema, live music and public viewing.

The official opening ceremony of the Baloise Park Village will take place on the event stage at the Kaiser-Wilhelms-Bad on Saturday (June 24) from 6 p.m. onwards. The highlight will be a brilliant concert by Scottish singer-songwriter Tom Walker. His best-known song “Leave a light on” has 222 million views on YouTube to date – the event is free of charge.

An overview of the theme days: Kids Day (June 26/Monday), Charity Day (June 27/Tuesday), Clubs Day powered by newkee (June 28/Wednesday) and Afterwork Day powered by Baloise (June 29/Thursday).

Further detailed information such as player portraits, match schedules and key dates of the tournament etc. can be found on our homepage.