The world number one, Iga Swiatek, had to end the lawn tennis tournament in Bad Homburg prematurely because of an illness. This made the unseeded Italian Lucia Bronzetti the first finalist.
“I’m really sorry, but I had a restless night with a fever, it’s possible food poisoning or an infection,” explained the 22-year-old Swiatek: “I’m not able to play today.”
The four-time Grand Slam tournament winner from Poland had reached a semi-final on grass for the first time in her career on Thursday with a clear 6: 3, 6: 2 against the Russian Anna Blinkowa. For Swiatek, the tournament in Bad Homburg was the dress rehearsal for the sporting highlight of the grass season in Wimbledon, where the games begin on Monday.
In the final on Saturday (1.30 p.m./hr), Bronzetti, who won the WTA tournament in Rabat in April, will meet Katerina Siniakova. The Czech defeated the American Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals on Friday. A few hours earlier, Siniakova had been successful in the continuation of her quarter-final game against Liudmila Samsonowa (Russia): After the match was adjourned on Thursday evening due to darkness when the sets were 1-1, she won the third round 6-2.
