Fourth-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland reached her first final of 2025 and her first ever on grass with a swift victory Friday at the Bad Homburg Open in Germany.
Swiatek only faced one break point in a 6-1, 6-3 defeat of No. 2 seed Jasmine Paolini of Italy in just 66 minutes. It was the five-time Grand Slam winner’s 50th career win against a top-10 opponent — her first on grass.
Her opponent in Saturday’s final will be top-seeded Jessica Pegula, who trailed 5-3 in the second set before rallying for a 6-7 (2), 7-5, 6-1 win against unseeded Czech Linda Noskova. Noskova struck 15 aces and was in control before Pegula swept 10 of the last 11 games to win in 2 hours and 7 minutes.
Lexus Eastbourne Open
Alexandra Eala made history by becoming the first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA final, outlasting Varvara Gracheva of France 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 in Eastbourne, England.
Eala, 20, saved eight of 15 break points and won the last three games to finish off the 2-hour, 22-minute triumph. She will face 19-year-old Australian Maya Joint, who reached her first grass-court final with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia.
Saturday’s final will mark the youngest title match in terms of combined age at Eastbourne since 18-year-old Tracy Austin defeated 16-year-old Andrea Jaeger in 1981.
–Field Level Media
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