Iga Swiatek, a five-time Grand Slam champion, defeated Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini to reach the first grass-court final in Bad Homburg.
Swiatek, a former junior champion at Wimbledon, defeated the Italian 6-1, 6-3.
The former world number one has won ten clay-court titles and 12 hard courts titles.
Swiatek reached Wimbledon’s quarter-finals in 2023, but she hasn’t advanced past the fourth round in any of her other four appearances.
Swiatek’s first victory over a top-10 player on grass comes from defeating world number five Paolini.
Swiatek, 24, said, “I am super happy – I didn’t anticipate this.”
“I just did my job, I knew what I wanted to do, and I made the decision.”
The final of Wimbledon will take place on Saturday, when Jessica Pegula will face the top seed.
In just 29 minutes, Swiatek broke Paolini’s serve three times to win the opener.
Paolini had a quick break in the second set, but Swiatek, one of the top women’s tour players, won six of the final eight games.
The Pole, who has won four French Open titles and one at the US Open, chose to spend a week training in Mallorca before taking on Bad Homburg, where he hasn’t played grass-court competitions this year.
Between her French Open victory and Wimbledon debut, she didn’t play any competitive tennis last year.
Alexandra Eala also advanced to the final at Eastbourne by defeating Frenchwoman Varvara Gracheva 7-5, 2-6, 6-3.
The first player from the Philippines to reach a WTA Tour final is Eala, who memorably stunned Swiatek at the Miami Open in March.
The 20-year-old struggled to win the first set before regrouping to win the decision to win the next five games.
Barbora Krejcikova, the defending Wimbledon champion, will face Eala in the first round of SW19, which is contested by the 74th-ranked Eala.
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Source: BBC
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