Iga Swiatek has returned to Bad Homburg with the same grass-court plan she used last year, saying she again spent one week on Mallorca, one week in Bad Homburg and then moved into the tournament. The Polish player said the repeat was deliberate because the preparation worked so well before her run to the Wimbledon title.
The timing gives the move extra weight. Świątek spoke about it in a Canal+ Sport interview conducted by Żelisław Żyżyński on June 20, and the segment was shown a few days later on the day she was due to face Emma Navarro. That makes her current build-up part of the conversation now, not a memory of last summer.
Last year, Bad Homburg was the launch point for her grass season. She reached the final there, lost to Jessica Pegula, and a few days later won Wimbledon in London. This time she said she arrived in Bad Homburg several days before the tournament began, again giving herself room to settle into the surface before the real matches start.
Świątek also explained why she likes the rhythm of the European summer. She said that in European cities she can usually find a park within a 10-minute walk from the hotel, which lets her unwind more easily between sessions. In China, by contrast, she said her free time is usually spent in her hotel room or at restaurants with the same people. For her, staying in Europe is not just practical. It is familiar.
That comfort does not erase the limits of grass for her game. Świątek said her top spin does not give her as much help on grass as it does on other courts, so she has to play flatter and adjust tactically. Even so, she said she is physically well prepared, and in hot conditions she can still use a higher bounce to her advantage. The point is not that grass suddenly suits her better. It is that she believes the same preparation that worked before can put her in position to adapt again.
For now, that leaves Bad Homburg as more than a tune-up. It is the place where Świątek is trying to recreate the path that carried her from an unexpected grass-court run to a Wimbledon title, with Emma Navarro next and the same question hanging over this summer: whether a repeat of the formula can deliver the same result.
