Top seed Jessica Pegula clinched her third WTA title of the season and the ninth of her career with a 6-4 7-5 victory over fourth seed Iga Swiatek in the final of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany. While it wasn’t her flashiest performance, the American never trailed in the WTA 500 final and stepped up when it mattered most.
In their eleventh career meeting—but the first on grass—Pegula was the first to strike. She broke Swiatek at 4-3 in the opening set and held serve to build a 5-3 lead. Though she had some shaky moments early on, Pegula reduced her errors as the set progressed and capitalized on her first set point when Swiatek sent a shot long. Despite Swiatek holding her service games with more ease overall, Pegula’s single break proved decisive. The first set lasted 49 minutes.
Competing on her least successful surface, Swiatek started the second set confidently with two love holds. Both players held strong throughout, with no break points on either side as the set reached 5-5. But Pegula seized the moment late, breaking Swiatek for a 6-5 lead. The world No. 3 closed out the match by firing an ace to earn match point and sealing victory as Swiatek netted a backhand.
With the victory, Pegula not only denied Swiatek her long-awaited first grass-court title, but also built valuable momentum heading into Wimbledon. For Swiatek, the loss was especially emotional, as this was her first final in over a year, and she was visibly in tears afterward.
During the trophy ceremony, Swiatek chose to focus on the positives, expressing optimism about her progress on grass. She noted that this tournament proved there is hope for her on the surface that has long challenged her. While she now holds an impressive 50 career wins over Top 10 opponents, her victory over Jasmine Paolini in the Bad Homburg semifinals marked her very first Top 10 win on grass.
Before overpowering Swiatek in the final, Pegula staged a remarkable comeback in the semifinals against unseeded Linda Noskova. The top seed was down a set and a break before breaking back to stay in the match, then stormed through the finish by winning 10 of the last 11 games for a 6-7(2) 7-5 6-1 victory. Earlier in the week, Pegula also notched wins over fifth seed Emma Navarro and Katerina Siniakova.
Pegula captured the title wearing the Adidas Core Climacool Dress paired with the new Adizero Ubersonic 5 shoes, part of Adidas’ London collection designed specifically for grass-court performance.
