After her dominance on clay came to an end, Iga Swiatek is now finding success on another surface.
The Pole arrived at the Bad Homburg Open to commence her grass court season after failing to win a title on clay.
In fact, Swiatek has not won a tournament anywhere since dispatching Jasmine Paolini to lift the 2024 French Open trophy.
But the 23-year-old has beaten the Italian again, only this time, to reach a grass court final for the first time in her career.
Iga Swiatek says she was surprised to beat Jasmine Paolini to reach first grass court final
Iga Swiatek entered the Bad Homburg Open in Germany, one of the final tournaments before Wimbledon commences on Monday.
The world number eight is playing with a level of freedom in this tournament not seen for some time, and she has produced some of her best grass court tennis this week.
Her best performance came against Paolini, who Swiatek defeated 6-1, 6-3 in Friday’s semi-final to reach the first grass court final of her career, and it was a result she did not expect.
“I’m super happy. I honestly wasn’t expecting to win this match. I’m happy that I just did my job,” Swiatek said post-match.
“I knew how I wanted to play and I just went for it and I’m happy that I kept the momentum going until the end of the match.
“You cannot let her get back into the game because she’s a fighter. So I just wanted to go for it and go for my shots.”
Iga Swiatek explains how she defeated Jasmine Paolini at the Bad Homburg Open
Swiatek needed just one hour and six minutes to maintain an unbeaten record against Paolini. During those five meetings, the Italian has managed to claim just one set.
This is the five-time Grand Slam champion’s 49th win against top 10 players, but this is the first that has taken place on grass.
She will now face Jessica Pegula or Linda Noskova in the Bad Homburg final, and a chance to lift a trophy on grass beckons.
“The tactics are different on every surface, it’s not like there is one key. But I think we are both pretty intense,” Swiatek said when asked how she defeated Paolini.
“I kinda understand how she wants to play because I also have a lot of topspin on my forehand and I like to step in on my backhand, so we get each other’s games.
“I know she has great touch and she might go to the net, but I tried not to let her do that to take away time from her to come forward. I played pretty long shots to keep her on the baseline, and I’m happy that I did that.”
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