Pegula beats Swiatek on grass to win Bad Homburg title in Wimbledon tune-up
BAD HOMBURG, Germany (AP) — Top-seeded Jessica Pegula beat five-time major champion Iga Swiatek 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday to win the grass-court Bad Homburg Open, extending Swiatek's year-long title drought.
Pegula clinched her third title of 2025 — with the others in Austin, Texas, and Charleston, South Carolina — and it was the ninth title of the 31-year-old American's career.
Swiatek was seeded fourth at the WTA 500 tournament in Germany, where the 24-year-old Pole sought her first trophy since the
2024 French Open
and a 23rd overall.
In their
11th career meeting
, but first on grass, Pegula won for the fifth time overall.
Pegula
beat Swiatek in the quarterfinals at last year's U.S. Open, where she finished the
runner-up
.
Although Swiatek hit nine aces in Saturday's final, she also dropped her serve twice. Pegula saved the only break point she faced and won a
higher percentage
of points on first and second serve.
The former No.1-ranked Swiatek has won four French Open titles and one U.S. Open, but has never been beyond the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
Pegula has also never been past the last eight at
Wimbledon
, where plays starts on Monday in London. ___
AP tennis:
https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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