Iga Swiatek began her Wimbledon preparations with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Victoria Azarenka at the Bad Homburg Open on Tuesday.

The five-time grand slam champion – who has never reached a final on grass at any level – is only playing one tournament ahead of another tilt at glory in London.

A potentially tricky second-round draw paired the Pole with former world number one Azarenka, but she advanced to the next stage in one hour and 37 minutes.

Swiatek was on the back foot when Azarenka broke to go 3-1 up in the opening set, though back-to-back breaks in games seven and nine were enough to give the fourth seed the advantage.

The two players traded breaks early in the second set, but Swiatek inched back ahead in game seven and was untroubled from there.

Swiatek will be joined in the quarter-finals by top seed Jasmine Paolini, who earned an entertaining 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (10-8) win over Leylah Fernandez, and top seed Jessica Pegula, who overcame Katerina Siniakova 6-2 6-3.

300 - Iga Swiatek has become the player with the fewest matches played (372) to claim 300 Tour-level wins since Serena Williams (359). Club.#BadHomburgOpen | @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/eAYWtwQ0jw

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) June 24, 2025

Data Debrief: Three centuries for Swiatek

Swiatek's victory over Azarenka was her 300th at WTA Tour level, in 372 matches.

That is the second-fewest matches required to reach 300 wins, after Serena Williams brought up the same milestone in 359 outings.

Swiatek, who has tumbled to eighth in the world rankings after a difficult 12 months, will hope to add three further victories in Germany to clinch her maiden grass title.