Navarro knocks out top seed Swiatek in Bad Homburg

Emma Navarro defeated top seed Iga Swiatek 7-5, 2-6, 6-3 on Wednesday to reach the Bad Homburg quarterfinals for the fourth straight year, earning her second consecutive victory over the former World No. 1.

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The win leveled Navarro's WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz head-to-head with Swiatek at 2-2, with the American taking each of their past two meetings in three sets. In both victories, Navarro saved her best tennis for the decider, dropping just three games across the two final sets combined.

“Yeah, it’s tough. It’s warm out. The ball is kind of flying. There’s not a ton of rhythm,” Navarro said in her on-court interview. “I think both of us felt that throughout the match, so it came down to a lot of serving, and I relied on my serve there at the end. And it ended up getting me through.”

Navarro’s turnaround began after landing just 20% of her first serves midway through the opening set. Her serve improved in the latter stages of the set, while Swiatek struggled with double faults, committing seven in the first set alone to hand Navarro the lead.

Swiatek responded in the second, winning 100% of her first-serve points -- though she landed only 42% of them – and claimed the last five games of the set to force a decider. But Navarro’s serve was leaps and bounds better in the third and paired with her pristine winners-to-errors ratio, it was enough to send her into another Bad Homburg quarterfinal.

She’ll face Elena-Gabriela Ruse for a spot in the semifinals. Navarro has yet to drop a set in their three prior meetings, though this will be their first on grass.

Swiatek, meanwhile, heads to Wimbledon with just one grass-court match under her belt as she prepares to begin her title defense.

Svitolina withdraws; Wang Xinyu advances to semifinals

After a three-set win of her own over Liudmila Samsonova on Tuesday, Elina Svitolina withdrew ahead of her quarterfinal against Wang Xinyu due to a right hip injury.

“Hi guys, it’s Elina here. Unfortunately I will be pulling out of my quarterfinal match here in Bad Homburg,” Svitolina said in a video posted on the tournament’s X account. “Last night was a hard-fought victory, but it took a little bit more than expected out of my body, so therefore I need a few more days to recover.

“I wish all the best to all the players who are still competing, and a lot of success to the tournament, and will hopefully see you all next year.”

Svitolina took a medical timeout between the first and second sets Tuesday for treatment and appeared to favor the hip at times, but she was able to finish the match.

Wang advances to the semifinals via walkover -- her second semifinal of the season and first since Auckland, where she reached the final before losing to Svitolina. She will face the winner of No. 6 seed Naomi Osaka and Ekaterina Alexandrova for a place in the final.