Swiatek defeats Blinkova and continues her winning streak on grass in Bad Homburg

Iga Swiatek defeated Anna Blinkova 6-3, 6-2 and will advance to the semifinals of the WTA Bad Homburg Open.  

The world No. 1 entered the grass season as the reigning French Open champion, but she hasn't achieved significant results on this surface in the past. The Polish player decided to play only one tournament before Wimbledon, which she is currently competing in at the WTA 250 Bad Homburg, where she entered as the top seed.

Swiatek won her first two matches against Tatjana Maria and Jil Teichmann, and now she faced 24-year-old Russian Anna Blinkova, who is currently at her career-high ranking of world No. 39.

Blinkova reached the quarterfinals with victories over Sabine Lisicki and Leylah Fernandez, but she couldn't do much against Swiatek, who once again demonstrated her superiority over her opponent.

In the first set, Swiatek took control with her serve, hitting 76% of first serves and winning 76% of those points. Both players had two break point opportunities, but while the Polish player saved both, Blinkova couldn't hold her serve when trailing 3-2, and Swiatek capitalized on that one break to win the set.

In the second set, Blinkova showed resistance in the early games, similar to the first set, but she also lost her serve in the fifth game. Swiatek won 19 of the last 20 points of the match, and the Russian player couldn't do much against the increasingly aggressive game of the 4-time Grand Slam champion.

Tomorrow, Swiatek will play the semifinal of the Bad Homburg Open against Lucia Bronzetti, who defeated Varvara Gracheva in straight sets, 6-4, 6-3. If Swiatek wins, she will reach her first final on grass, just a few days before the start of Wimbledon, where she is the top seed and will aim for her fifth Grand Slam title.