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Swiatek to play maiden grass-court final against top seed Pegula / Photo: © AFP
Swiatek to play maiden grass-court final against top seed Pegula
Five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek reached her first ever grass-court final on Friday defeating last year's Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini in the semi-finals at Bad Homburg.
The former world number one swept past second seed Paolini 6-1, 6-3 in just over an hour to reach her first final in a year since she lifted her fourth French Open trophy at Roland Garros.
Swiatek will bid for her 23rd career title on Saturday against US top seed Jessica Pegula, who rallied past Czech Linda Noskova 6-7 (2/7), 7-5, 6-1 in the northern suburbs of Frankfurt.
Earlier, fourth seed Swiatek lost her opening service game but then settled in to break back to love and dominated Paolini for her fifth win in as many meetings against the Italian.
"I wasn't expecting to win this match, so I'm happy that I just did my job," Swiatek, 24, said.
"I knew how I wanted to play and I just went for it. I'm happy I kept the momentum going until the end of the match, Jasmine, you can't let her get back in the game because she's a fighter."
Pole Swiatek is playing her first tournament since the three-time defending champion lost to world number one Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals of Roland Garros.
She has never before reached a final on grass, and her best result at Wimbledon is a quarter-final finish in 2023.
Pegula, 31, won her fifth semi-final of the season out of as many contested and will attempt to lift her third trophy of the season after Austin (hard court) and Charleston (clay).
A US Open finalist in 2024 and winner of eight WTA Tour tournaments since the start of her career, Pegula has only one title on grass, last year in Berlin.
Paolini, 29, will now head to London, where she will begin her Wimbledon campaign against 402nd-ranked Latvian Anastasija Sevastova.
Former US Open champion Swiatek will face Russian Polina Kudermetova, ranked 63, in Wimbledon, with Pegula opening her campaign against Italian Elisabetta Cocciaretto.
S. Soares--JDB
