Iga Swiatek has surprised with her decision to commit to the 2025 Bad Homburg Open. A prominent role has also been given to German tennis legend Angelique Kerber.
This year’s Bad Homburg Open is scheduled for June 23rd to 29th. That is the week before the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, so many top players will be tempted to rest and recover before the grass-court Grand Slam.
However, Swiatek has decided to take the opposite approach. The Pole wants to get match practice as close as possible to Wimbledon by signing up for the Bad Homburg Open.
Grass has been Swiatek’s weakest surface throughout her career, as demonstrated by her failure to advance past the quarterfinal at SW19. Therefore, the additional practice might be particularly helpful.
Swiatek competed at the Bad Homburg Open in 2023. She reached the semifinal but withdrew at that stage because of an injury concern. The 23-year-old did not play any warmup tournaments before Wimbledon last season.
In truth, how to manage the grass court season is a dilemma for Swiatek. It comes straight after the clay court season, which has been the four-time French Open champion’s most successful part of the year throughout her career.
Since grass is her least favored surface and comes straight after the clay court season, there is an understandable temptation not to push herself as much ahead of the North American hard court swing a few weeks later.
However, Swiatek deserves credit for being willing to play the week before this year’s Wimbledon. That indicates she hopes to give the grass court swing a good crack and try to go further at Wimbledon than in the past.
Belinda Bencic has also been confirmed for the Bad Homburg Open. The Swiss returned from maternity leave in the closing stages of the 2024 season and has been more successful than many expected.
Bencic’s run to the fourth round of the 2025 Australian Open included Naomi Osaka retiring after the first set of their third-round battle. She missed out on the quarterfinal after Coco Gauff fought back to beat her in three sets.
The Olympic gold medalist built on that momentum by winning the 2025 Abu Dhabi Open title. Triumphing at a WTA 500 event so soon after returning to tennis was a phenomenal achievement.
A matchup between Swiatek and Bencic at the Bad Homburg Open could be fascinating. The former WTA world No. 1 saved two match points to beat Bencic in a fourth round thriller at Wimbledon in 2023.
Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber, who retired from professional tennis at last year’s Olympics, has been announced as the tournament director. She won the inaugural edition of the event in 2021.
In a brief statement about her role, Kerber said the tournament was close to her heart because she was involved in its creation. Since its inception, the event has gone from a WTA 250-level tournament to a WTA 500.
“This tournament is particularly close to my heart because I was there from the beginning – from the initial planning to the implementation. As a former professional, I know what is important to the players and want to try to contribute my wealth of experience with a view to achieving the most perfect coordination possible between the organizers and the field of players.”
