Bad Homburg Open draw: Swiatek replaces Rybakina as Eala faces familiar opponent, Venus Williams takes on qualifier

Shahida Jacobs 20 Jun 2026 7:30 AM

Iga Swiatek, Mirra Andreeva and Alex Eala

Elena Rybakina’s late withdrawal from the Bad Homburg Open has seen Iga Swiatek bumped up to top seed with Mirra Andreeva now headlining the bottom half of the draw.

Following back-to-back early defeats at the Queen’s Club Championship and Berlin Open, Rybakina has opted to end her Wimbledon preparations by pulling out of the Bad Homburg event hours before the draw.

As the No 1 seed, Swiatek – who finished runner-up to Jessica Pegula 12 months ago – has a bye into the second round along with Andreeva, Elina Svitolina and Karolina Muchova

The six-time Grand Slam winner will open her campaign against either wildcard Eva Lys or Emma Navarro and if she wins that encounter, she is projected to face fifth seed Linda Noskova in the quarter-final.

Berlin semi-finalist Noskova starts against a qualifier before a possible second-round clash with Anna Kalinskaya.

If the seedings hold, then Swiatek will face fourth seed Muchova in the semi-final.

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The Czech will face either wildcard Venus Williams – who is playing in her first singles event since the Madrid Open in April – or a qualifier in the second round while she could meet seventh seed Diana Shnaider in the quarter-final.

Second seed Andreeva – playing in her first event since winning the French Open title – starts off against either Ekaterina Alexandrova or Ann Li in the round of 32 while she is projected to face sixth seed Naomi Osaka in the quarter-final.

However, four-time Grand Slam winner Osaka has a tricky path as she takes on Magdalena Frech in the first round before a possible clash with Alex Eala, who has been in good form on grass.

The 21-year-old won the WTA 125K Birmingham Open at the start of June and has followed it up with some incredible results at the Berlin Open as she stunned world No 2 Rybakina in the second round and world No 8 in the last eight.

Eala starts her campaign against Elise Mertens, a player who beat her in the round of 64 at the Madrid Open back in April.

But it remains to be seen if Noskova, Eala and Svitolina – who is also in the bottom half of the draw – will feature at Bad Homburg after their extended runs in Berlin.

Third seed Svitolina faces either Katerina Siniakova or Liudmila Samsonova in the second round with eighth seed Iva Jovic a projected quarter-final opponent.

American Jovic starts against Xin Wang and if the American gets through that encounter, she will take on either Katie Boulter or Leylah Fernandez.