Google News Bad Homburg Open: Lucia Bronzetti, Katerina Siniakova in final; Iga Swiatek withdraws
by ABBEY JOHNSON
Iga Swiatek had to withdraw from the Bad Homburg Open on Friday prior to her semi-final match against Lucia Bronzetti. The world no. 1 suffered from food poisoning that left her unable to contest the first semi-final of her career on grass.
In a statement, Swiatek shared, “I'm so sorry but I have to pull out of my match today. I had a restless night because of some fever and possible food poisoning. I'm not able to perform today and I need to take care of myself.
I hope I'll be fine soon. Your support in Bad Homburg was amazing, thank you”. Swiatek’s withdrawal meant her opponent Lucia Bronzetti made it to the final. The Italian’s now reached two finals this season. This is also the first time she’s made it to the finals of a grass-court tournament.
Bad Homburg Open: Katerina Siniakova pulls double duty
In the final, Bronzetti will play Katerina Siniakova. The Czech defeated Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in their semi-final match-up in an hour and six minutes. Earlier on Friday, Siniakova also defeated second seed Liudmila Samsonova in their quarter-final match.
That match that was initially played on Thursday had to be rescheduled for Friday due to bad light affecting visibility of play. Siniakova claimed a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 win against Samsonova. In the semi-final Siniakova didn’t take much time.
She won 70% of her first-serve points and 73% of her second-serve points. She also saved the only break point she faced while converting four of seven break points on Navarro’s serve. Siniakova won 57 points of which 26 were winners.
Navarro finished with 40 points of which 12 were unforced errors off Siniakova’s racquet. Lucia Bronzetti and Katerina Siniakova will be playing each other for the first time in their career. For Siniakova, this is the second time she’s reached this far in this WTA 250 event.
Back in 2021, she’d played, and lost, the final to home player, Angelique Kerber. Photo Credit: Bad Homburg Open Twitter