Swiatek withdraws from Bad Homburg; Siniakova, Bronzetti reach final

No.1 seed Iga Swiatek has withdrawn from her Bad Homburg Open semifinal against Lucia Bronzetti, citing GI illness, the tournament announced Friday.

"I'm so sorry but I have to pull out of my match today," Swiatek said in a statement. "I had a restless night because of some fever and possible food poisoning. I'm not able to perform today and I need to take care of myself. I hope I'll be fine soon. Your support in Bad Homburg was amazing, thank you."

Swiatek had defeated opponents including Wimbledon semifinalist Tatjana Maria and No.9 seed Anna Blinkova to reach her first grass-court semifinal in Bad Homburg.

Read more: 2023 Wimbledon seeds: Inside the numbers

Having captured her fourth Grand Slam title at Roland Garros last month, she will carry a 10-match winning streak into Wimbledon next week, where she opens up against Zhu Lin.

No.65-ranked Bronzetti advances to her second final of 2023, and first of her career on grass. The Italian won her first Hologic WTA Tour trophy in Rabat last month, in the week preceding Roland Garros.

Bronzetti's opponent in the championship match will be World No.52 Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic. It will be the first career meeting between Bronzetti and Siniakova.

Siniakova picked up two wins on Friday to reach her eighth career singles final. Current WTA Doubles World No.1 Siniakova is seeking her fourth career singles title.

To start the day, Siniakova completed a rain-interrupted 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 upset of No.2 seed Liudmila Samsonova, which had been halted on Thursday at one set all. Siniakova then eased past Emma Navarro 6-2, 6-2 in an evening semifinal.

Highlights: Siniakova def. Navarro

In the semifinals, Siniakova fired 26 winners to just 12 unforced errors against 60th-ranked Navarro. Siniakova faced only one break point, in the very last game of the match, and the Czech steered out of that predicament to prevail in 66 minutes.

Siniakova has appeared at all three editions of the Bad Homburg Open and is into the final for the second time. She finished runner-up to Angelique Kerber at the inaugural edition in 2021.