30 June,2023 04:58 PM IST | Bad Homburg | mid-day online correspondent
Iga Swiatek (Pic: AFP)
The current World No. 1 Iga Swiatek withdrew from the Bad Homburg Open on Friday with a fever and possible food poisoning, three days before the start of Wimbledon.
She was scheduled to play in her first career grass-court semifinal match on Friday against Lucia Bronzetti, who gets a walkover to Saturday's final.
"I'm so sorry but I have to pull out of my match today. I had a restless night because of some fever and possible food poisoning," Swiatek said in a statement on Instagram. "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. It was a pleasure to play here. And I hope I will be back."
Swiatek, the French Open and U.S. Open champion, had been upbeat this week about adapting to play on grass, historically the surface which had brought her the least success. Following her French Open victory, Swiatek was on a 10-match win streak after beating Anna Blinkova in the Bad Homburg quarterfinals on Thursday.
Also Read: No. 1 title, 4 Grand Slams: Can the 'invincible' Iga Swiatek win Wimbledon, too?
Swiatek has been drawn against Zhu Lin in the first round of Wimbledon. She is coming off her third title in the past four years on the French Open's red clay. Last September, she won a championship on the U.S. Open's hard courts for the first time. That's also the surface used at the Australian Open, where she's been to the semifinals.
Wimbledon, which begins Monday, has been her least successful Grand Slam tournament so far. Swiatek is just 5-3 at the All England Club - compare that to her 28-2 mark at Roland Garros, for example - and those three losses came in the first round, third round and fourth round.
After watching her beat Karolina Muchova in three sets in the final at Roland Garros, French Open tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said she thinks Swiatek has what it takes to thrive at the All England Club.
(With AP inputs)
