Takeaways: Swiatek, Paolini set Bad Homburg semifinal meeting
No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek will bid to reach the first grass-court final of her career at the Bad Homburg Open against No. 2 Jasmine Paolini. The pair set a rematch of the 2024 Roland Garros title match after similar tight two-set wins in the quarterfinals. Paolini came through 7-5, 7-5 against Beatriz Haddad Maia, and Swiatek followed on the Spielbank Bad Homburg Centre Court with a 6-4, 7-6(5) defeat of No. 8 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova.
Can Swiatek stay perfect against Paolini? Swiatek will seek to preserve a perfect record against Paolini to date. She currently leads the head-to-head against the Italian 4-0 -- though this will be the first time they have met on grass, and the first time they have met with Paolini as the higher-ranked player. Moreover, their most recent encounter in the semifinals of last year's Billie Jean King Cup Finals suggested that Paolini was getting closer to a win.
In their first three meetings -- in the second round of a Prague ITF W80 in 2018 and the 2022 US Open first round, as well as their Roland Garros final -- Paolini mustered just nine games combined, three in each encounter. On the indoor hard courts of Malaga last November, she pushed Swiatek all the way in a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 loss.
Swiatek navigates tricky conditions and tough opponent: "I already lost against her, so I knew she could make amazing tennis," Swiatek said of Alexandrova after coming through against the 30-year-old, a two-time grass-court titlist. "For sure, her flat shots fit really well on the grass."
The serve proved the most crucial aspect of the game for both players. The match opened with three consecutive breaks, but after that neither player conceded their delivery for the rest of the match. Both saved all three break points they faced in the second set -- Alexandrova in two separate games, and Swiatek digging herself out of a 0-40 hole to hold for 2-2. In total, Alexandrova won 71% of her first-serve points and Swiatek 75%.
In the end, the match came down to a handful of key moments. Having exchanged breaks in the first two games, Swiatek nudged ahead for 2-1 as Alexandrova sent a forehand wide, and held that lead for the rest of the opening set. At 4-4 in the second-set tiebreak, she thumped a forehand winner into the corner to take control.
The former World No. 1 also kept her focus by doing crosswords during a lengthy rain delay serving down 4-3, at deuce, in the second set.
"Today, it was all about adjusting to the conditions, because it was super windy for most of the match," Swiatek said afterwards. "We both tried to do what we can -- on the one hand, be intense, but on the other hand play it safe."
Swiatek advances to her second career grass-court semifinal, both of which have come in Bad Homburg, where she also made the last four in 2023.
"I just love these small tournaments," she said. "It feels like we're one big family just enjoying tennis. I would play tournaments like this every week if I could, without all the unnecessary fuss and everything."
Paolini remains unbeaten against Haddad Maia: While Swiatek has yet to reach a grass-court final, Paolini memorably ticked that box with a crowd-pleasing run to last year's Wimbledon final. This week, she's bounced back from an opening-round loss in Berlin last week to Ons Jabeur, and she's also done it with clutch play.
After saving set points in both sets to edge Leylah Fernandez in two tiebreaks, Paolini had to hold off a pair of valiant comebacks from Haddad Maia. She led 5-3 in the first set and 3-1 in the second, only for the Brazilian to peg her back at 5-5 both times.
But Paolini was the more consistently aggressive player throughout both sets, and she kept her foot to the floor in the tightest moments. She improved to 4-0 against Haddad Maia overall -- and for the first time had come through one of their encounters in straight sets.
