Iga Swiatek suffered a significant blow in her preparation for Wimbledon after being defeated by Emma Navarro at the Bad Homburg Open.

Navarro triumphed 7-5 2-6 6-3 on Wednesday and will now face qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse in the quarter-finals of the grass-court WTA 500 event.

There were five breaks of serve in a topsy-turvy first set which went the way of Navarro when Swiatek was unable to hold in order to force a tie-break.

The Pole impressively fought back in the second set, breaking Navarro twice and not facing a single break point on her own serve.

But she could not maintain that momentum and the match, which lasted for two hours and five minutes, was ultimately decided by two critical games early in the decider.

First, Navarro got a crucial break to move 2-0 in front. Swiatek then attempted to strike straight back, but the American staved off three break points to extend her advantage to three games.

And there were no further break opportunities for either player from there, with Navarro sealing a memorable victory with an ace.

e quarterfinals!#BHO26 pic.twitter.com/GgKDNxCSmL

— wta (@WTA) June 24, 2026

Swiatek short of form and confidence

In her first appearance since the French Open, where she suffered a fourth-round exit, Swiatek was the top seed in Germany and had received a first-round bye.

So this defeat in her first match this week means she now goes into the defence of her Wimbledon title next week short of form and match practice.

Swiatek is yet to reach a final on the WTA Tour so far in 2026, and had hoped the familiar setting of Bad Homburg, where she had reached the semi-finals or better in each of her last two appearances, was going to help reverse her fortunes.

However, she had nine double faults and could not capitalise at the most significant moments in what was an evenly matched contest.

Navarro, meanwhile, continues to build momentum on grass after finishing as runner-up in Nottingham last week.

She has now beaten Swiatek in the last two meetings between the pair, having also prevailed over the six-time major winner at the China Open in Beijing last October, also in a match that went to a deciding set.

Navarro has now reached the quarter-finals in all four of her appearances at the Bad Homburg Open, and will be confident of extending her run, with French Open champion Mirra Andreeva – who was second seed behind Swiatek – also crashing out of the tournament in round two.