Swiatek Adapts to Germany Ahead of Wimbledon

BAD HOMBURG, TUESDAY – This year, Iga Swiatek has a different agenda between the French Open and Wimbledon compared to 2024. Swiatek is preparing for Wimbledon by participating in the WTA 500 tournament in Bad Homburg, Germany, from June 22 to 28.

The first adaptation in the tournament, during the transition from clay courts to grass courts, occurred when facing former world number one, Victoria Azarenka. In the second round held on Tuesday (24/6/2025), Swiatek won with a score of 6-4, 6-4.

Although only two sets, Swiatek could not say that it was easy to win. In the tenth game of the first set, when Swiatek was leading 5-4 and holding serve, Azarenka made a break point 40-15. The 2012 and 2013 Australian Open champion only needed one point to make the score 5-5. However, Swiatek held her serve and won the first set.

Like the opener, Swiatek won the second set by breaking serve twice to break back a break of Azarenka's serve. Swiatek won after one hour and 36 minutes, hitting 25 winners, including six aces.

"At several games at the beginning of the match, I felt I was playing very well because I had the opportunity to break Azarenka's serve, but it turned out I couldn't do it. My game lacked intensity," said Swiatek, who will face Ekaterina Alexandrova or Maria Sakkari in the quarterfinals.

The tournament in the central German state of Hesse was Swiatek's first since failing to defend her French Open title. A run that saw her score a hat-trick of French Open titles from 2022-2024 was ended by Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals.

Just 18 days after that defeat, Swiatek returned to competition to adapt to the grass courts. She participated in a "lighter" competition compared to the WTA 500 Berlin, which was attended by almost all of the top ten ranked women's singles players, except for herself.

In Berlin, the competition featured top tennis players such as Sabalenka, Cori Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Jasmine Paolini, although the championship trophy was won by unseeded player Marketa Vondrousova. In Bad Homburg, only five top ten players competed, namely Swiatek, Pegula, Paolini, Mirra Andreeva, and Emma Navarro.

With a performance that has declined compared to 2024, Swiatek needs better preparation for Wimbledon, especially since her track record on grass courts is the worst. Among the four Grand Slams, Swiatek has never reached the semifinals only at Wimbledon. Her best result was the quarterfinals in 2023, and she was eliminated in the second round the following year.

This year, Swiatek has not reached the final in any of the nine tournaments, resulting in her failure to defend five championship titles. Therefore, the Polish tennis player is participating in the WTA Bad Homburg instead of going directly to Wimbledon as she did in 2024. Swiatek is competing in Bad Homburg, one of the tournaments held in the last week before Wimbledon, from June 30 to July 13.

"This is my first tournament on grass this year. Getting a bye in the first round is not always nice because I need a lot of matches before Wimbledon. But I'm happy to get through," said Swiatek, who earned her 300th career win when she beat Azarenka.

In addition to Swiatek, the seeded players who won in the second round are Pegula (1), Paolini (2), and Navarro (5). Navarro, who will face Pegula in the quarterfinals, defeated another former world number one, Naomi Osaka, 6-4, 6-4.

"I and Naomi played well. She made it difficult for me. Certainly, there are many things I need to improve, and I will strive to play better in the next round. Moreover, Pegula is a smart player and always plays calmly. I learned a lot from her," Navarro stated on the official WTA website.

In the men's tennis competition, Novak Djokovic has also returned to the court after the French Open. The player with 24 Grand Slam titles is preparing with training at the All England Club in London, the venue for Wimbledon.

Since 2019, Djokovic has not participated in any tournaments between the French Open and Wimbledon. The former world number one has been preparing solely through training.

He seems to understand every inch of the All England Club, having reached the finals in all six editions since 2018. Djokovic won in 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2022, as part of his seven Wimbledon titles. In 2020, this oldest tennis tournament was canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Djokovic has lost in the last two years to the young star, Carlos Alcaraz. If he can add to his titles at the All England Club, Djokovic will equal Roger Federer as the male singles player with the most titles at Wimbledon, which is eight.

Djokovic's performance, at the age of 38, in 2025 was not very good as he was eliminated in his first appearance in four tournaments, namely at the ATP 500 Doha, ATP Masters 1000 Indian Wells, Monte Carlo Masters, and Madrid Masters. However, his performance in the Grand Slam arena cannot be underestimated by other players, as Djokovic was still able to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open.

Arriving in London this week, Djokovic has been training at Aorangi Park since Tuesday, a venue designated for practice ahead of Wimbledon. He practiced alongside Greek tennis player Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is accompanied by Djokovic's former coach, Goran Ivanisevic. Tsitsipas announced his collaboration with Ivanisevic in May and was accompanied by the former Croatian player at ATP Halle last week. (AFP)