A fully-packed grass swing: Elena Rybakina adds the Bad Homburg Open to her busy grass schedule

Elena Rybakina exited early at Roland Garros and is looking to come back from that huge disappointment. She is now cramming her schedule full of grass tournaments with the Bad Homburg Open the latest one to be confirmed as the road to Wimbledon begins.

Originally, the Berlin Open was the only tournament Rybakina was going to compete in. She was a late addition in the Queen's Club Championships, becoming the number one seed for the WTA 500 tournament.

She will follow that up by challenging for the title in the German capital alongside a stacked field including the world number one Aryna Sabalenka, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Amanda Anisimova and Elina Svitolina to name a few.

That takes it to within one week of Wimbledon. Originally the plan was to have a week of rest before the third Grand Slam tournament of the year commences. However, those have been reversed with Rybakina eager for more grass court action. She is a handy player on the surface having won the Wimbledon title back in 2022. Funnily enough, it is her only grass final.

She will be wanting to add to that collection of finals and specifically titles. Her last stop before Wimbledon is at the Bad Homburg Open, still in Germany. “Another reigning Grand Slam champion joins the field at the Bad Homburg Open powered by Solarwatt,” a spokesperson for the event said on X post. "World number two Elena Rybakina is set to compete in the Kurpark!”

It is a big coup for the tournament and for the fans who will get to see the Kazakh compete in the flesh. She will be one of the big favourites for the title, like in any other event with her prestige and qualities on court.

That has not really been shown in recent times. The second round defeat at Roland Garros against a fantastic Yuliia Starodubtseva was a bitter blow. She never really found her mojo on clay despite winning the tournament in Stuttgart. Once playing outside, her form dipped. A fourth round in Madrid was followed by a quarter-final in Rome. Not bad, but not what she was aiming for with her meteoric standards a true reflection of how good of a tennis player she is.

It is a very strong lineup in Germany. Last year's finalist Iga Swiatek has a lot of points to defend with her Wimbledon title defence coming up. Last year's champion, Pegula, has chosen not to return and challenge for her crown.

Roland Garros champion Mirra Andreeva is in the form of her life and will be a dangerous prospect on court once more, full of confidence and belief. Other big names include Karolina Muchova, Linda Noskova, Naomi Osaka, Iva Jovic, Sorana Cirstea and Leylah Fernandez all in action eyeing up the chance of clinching WTA glory.