The Final Prep Before Wimbledon: Eastbourne, Mallorca & Bad Homburg in Action
Just a week away from Wimbledon, we are down to the final four tournaments giving players a chance to get into a rhythm ahead of the grass court major.
This week will witness two ATP 250s—in Eastbourne and Mallorca—alongside a WTA 250 in Eastbourne and a WTA 500 in Bad Homburg.
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Can Świątek Deliver on the Most Unlikely Surface?
It has been an uncharacteristic season for Iga Świątek, who has now dropped to No. 8 in the rankings after failing to reach a single final in 2025.
Things only get more challenging as the tour moves to grass—a surface that has historically been her least productive. But as the saying goes, fate works in mysterious ways, and who knows, Świątek’s season may begin to turn around in Bad Homburg.
Seeded No. 4, the Pole has a first-round bye and could face Laura Siegemund in the second round, with eighth seed Ekaterina Alexandrova looming in a potential quarterfinal.
If Świątek manages to string together consecutive wins, a semifinal clash with second seed Jasmine Paolini could be on the cards.
Paolini’s route to the semifinals, however, is far from straightforward. After suffering an opening-round loss to Ons Jabeur last week, the Italian’s confidence might be a bit shaky—especially now that she finds herself among a group of in-form grass-court players.
Paolini is likely to meet surprise Queen’s champion Tatjana Maria in the second round. We’re backing Maria to get past Nottingham quarterfinalist Leylah Fernandez in the opener.
Should Paolini overcome Maria, her next opponent could be either seventh seed Elina Svitolina, ’s-Hertogenbosch champion Elise Mertens, or Berlin finalist Xinyu Wang.
While Svitolina and Mertens meet in the first round, Wang—set to face Marketa Vondrousova in the Berlin final on Sunday—opens against the dangerous but off-color Beatriz Haddad Maia.
We’re picking Mertens and Wang (assuming she doesn’t withdraw) to progress to the second round.
Why Mertens over Svitolina?
The Belgian's superior grass-court form gives her the edge against the Ukrainian, who is playing on grass for the first time this season.
So, while a Świątek vs. Paolini semifinal remains our prediction for a tricky bottom half, the top half appears even more unpredictable.
Top seed Jessica Pegula is likely to open against Liudmila Samsonova in the second round. Samsonova will be buoyed by her recent comeback win over Pegula in Berlin—her first in five meetings—where she rallied from a set down to advance to the semifinals.
Although she eventually lost to Wang, that victory would have certainly boosted her confidence.
Still, with a 4–1 head-to-head record in her favor, we’re backing Pegula to come through this time and also win her quarterfinal—possibly against fifth seed Emma Navarro.
Third seed Mirra Andreeva and defending champion Diana Shnaider are expected to round out the quarterfinals in the top half.
If that matchup materializes, Andreeva’s consistency this season makes her a slight favorite in what should be a tightly contested encounter.
Bad Homburg Predictions
Quarterfinals:
Pegula v Navarro
Andreeva v Shnaider
Swiatek v Alexandrova
Mertens / Svitolina v Paolini
Semifinals:
Pegula v Andreeva
Alexandrova v Paolini
Tennis Quiz Question of the Day (answer at the end!):
Which women’s player won multiple Grand Slam titles in her career but was a seven-time singles runner-up at Wimbledon?
(Get more such tennis quiz questions here!)
Fritz Aims for Fourth Title in Eastbourne
Recently crowned Stuttgart champion Taylor Fritz comes to Eastbourne aiming to defend his title, which would also mark his fourth triumph at the event.
The American is the top seed, and although he is coming off a first-round defeat at Queen’s, he will be looking to put that setback behind him and regain the form that saw him lift the trophy in Stuttgart two weeks ago.
Additionally, Fritz’s dominance in Eastbourne stands him in good stead. The world No. 4, who lost to Corentin Moutet at Queen’s, has a first-round bye.
He faces ’s-Hertogenbosch finalist Zizou Bergs in a potential second round, with either Jacob Fearnley or fifth seed Flavio Cobolli as possible quarterfinal opponents.
We are backing the fifth seed for now, but if he falls to the Brit in the first round, we expect the latter to make the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, Fritz could meet either third seed Jakub Mensik—who has displayed solid form this year but lacks experience on grass—or Reilly Opelka, a semifinalist in ’s-Hertogenbosch last week.
The bottom half will be led by second seed Tommy Paul, runner-up here two years ago.
A solid grass-court player, Paul will be playing his first match of the season on grass in the second round, most likely against Dan Evans. However, his biggest obstacle lies in the quarterfinals, where he could face the in-form Alexander Bublik.
Bublik, who stunned Jannik Sinner in Halle en route to the final, is set to play Daniil Medvedev for the title on Sunday. He may opt out of Eastbourne at the last minute, but if he remains in the draw, he could go deep once again.
Bublik or Paul’s potential semifinal opponent will be Ugo Humbert, also a semifinalist in ’s-Hertogenbosch.
ATP Eastbourne Predictions
Quarterfinals
Fritz v Cobolli / Fearnley
Opelka v Qualifier
Humbert v Mpetshi Perricard
Paul v Bublik
Semifinals
Fritz v Opelka
Bublik v Humbert
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Krejcikova’s Last Chance to Find Form Before Wimbledon
With a back injury keeping her out for most parts of the season, Barbora Krejcikova has lacked both game time and form ahead of her title defense at Wimbledon.
In Eastbourne, the Czech faces her last chance to find rhythm before the third Grand Slam of the season. Krejcikova is 1-3 overall this year and is coming off a straight-sets defeat to Rebecca Sramkova in the first round at Queen’s.
She is the second seed in Eastbourne, but more than going deep or all the way to the final, her goal will be to play well and pick up a few early wins.
Krejcikova has never gone past the second round in her previous two appearances in Eastbourne.
It will be tough this year as well, with local hope Harriet Dart her opponent in the first round, and another Briton, Jodie Anna Burrage, her likely second-round opponent.
The bright side for the Czech?
Neither Dart nor Burrage are in good form, and Krejcikova may use all her experience to notch up two wins on the trot.
Krejcikova’s run may come to an end in a potential quarterfinal against eighth seed Rebecca Sramkova, or in the semifinals against Jelena Ostapenko.
The third seed Ostapenko won the title in 2021 and was a finalist in 2022. She hasn’t played on grass yet this year but is likely to make a strong start.
Beginning against Sonay Kartal, she could meet Lucia Bronzetti in the second round and Dayana Yastremska—who is preparing for the Nottingham final at the time of writing—in the quarterfinals.
Yastremska takes on fifth seed Magda Linette in the first round and will look to continue her winning ways against the Pole after brushing her aside in straight sets in the Nottingham semifinal.
Ostapenko is expected to meet either Sramkova or Krejcikova in the semifinals from the bottom half, with the Latvian favored to reach the final.
Who’s expected to come through from the top half? Top seed Daria Kasatkina will begin her title defense against Lulu Sun in the first round, with Anna Blinkova likely awaiting in the second round.
Given Kasatkina’s poor form this year, we don’t see her progressing too far. She could be stopped in the quarterfinals by Ons Jabeur.
The Tunisian, runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023, showed signs of resurgence in Berlin, where—playing as a lucky loser—she knocked out Jasmine Paolini en route to the quarterfinals.
We expect her to reach the semis over Kasatkina and seventh seed Emma Raducanu.
Fourth seed Sofia Kenin, who is also not in her best form, is expected to make the semifinals from her section of the draw.
Tennis Quiz Answer: Chris Evert, who won 18 majors including three singles titles at Wimbledon but lost the final there seven times including five times to Martina Navratilova. (Get more such tennis quiz questions here)
WTA Eastbourne Predictions
Quarterfinals:
Kasatkina v Jabeur
Kenin v Qualifier
Ostapenko v Yastremska
Krejcikova v Sramkova
Semifinals:
Jabeur v Kenin / Qualifier
Ostapenko v Krejcikova
Shelton, FAA eye Mallorca Glory
Ben Shelton and Felix Auger-Aliassime are the top two seeds respectively in Mallorca and both have a great chance of featuring in the final of the tournament.
The left-handed Shelton, who was a semifinalist in Stuttgart, is likely to begin his campaign against Justin Engel in the second round.
Corentin Moutet is a potential quarterfinal opponent, and we are backing him over eighth seed Daniel Altmaier in that section of the draw.
Who could meet Shelton in the semifinals?
There are three contenders: third seed Alex Michelsen, who is seeded to go through, and was a quarterfinalist in Halle; seventh seed and Queen’s semifinalist Roberto Bautista Agut and Tomas Martin Etcheverry, also a quarterfinalist in Halle.
Bautista Agut and Etcheverry will meet in the first round, and we are slightly inclined towards Bautista Agut for his vast grass experience.
In the bottom half, watch out for Canada’s Gabriel Diallo.
The sixth seed triumphed at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and made it to the round of 16 in Queen’s.
That form gives him the edge over fourth seed Tallon Griekspoor in a potential quarterfinal, with the latter playing his first tournament on grass this season.
We expect Diallo to reach the semis for a potential meeting with fellow Canadian Auger-Aliassime.
The latter may face a stiff challenge in a potential second round matchup against Arthur Rinderknech, but should come out on top.
He could face a qualifier in the quarterfinals as fifth seed Alexandre Muller and Hamad Medjedovic are yet to prove themselves on grass and Roman Safiullin struggling recently. That opens a door of opportunity for a qualifier.
Mallorca Open Predictions
Quarterfinals:
Shelton v Moutet
Michelsen v Bautista Agut
Diallo v Griekspoor
Auger-Aliassime v Qualifier
Semifinals:
Shelton v Bautista Agut
Auger-Alissime v Diallo
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