Iga Swiatek breaks down in tears after Jessica Pegula match and makes Wimbledon statement

Iga Swiatek broke down in tears after losing to billionaire heiress Jessica Pegula in the final of the Bad Homburg on Saturday. The Pole, who herself has a brand value of £390million, was defeated 6-4, 7-5 in the showpiece match in Germany, with the winner banking just over £120,000 for her endeavours.

Swiatek has won five Grand Slam titles but has endured a difficult year on the court after losing in the early rounds in a string of clay-court tournaments. The 24-year-old was knocked out of the Australian Open in the semi-finals at the start of the year and was dispatched at the same stage of the French Open, despite winning the Paris tournament four times throughout her career. She will be aiming to progress beyond the quarter-finals of Wimbledon for the first time ever next month after historically struggling on grass.

Swiatek was full of emotion at the Bad Homburg and was caught on camera breaking down in tears at one stage on Saturday. She wiped away the tears with a blue towel before composing herself.

And addressing the crowd in her on-court interview after the match, she explained: "First of all, I want to congratulate Jessie, you have an amazing game and you showed that throughout the whole tournament.

"It was really a big challenge and a pleasure to play against you again. Hopefully we are going to have many, many more finals together ahead of us."

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She then explained: "It's a place where I just feel like I can just focus on tennis and on improving as a player and I feel like it's going a good way. So thank you for the opportunity to play here."

And the blockbuster star made a statement that suggested she could surprise a few players at Wimbledon as she added: "This tournament shows there's hope for me on grass."

Pegula, meanwhile, paid tribute to the defeated finalist as she later told Swiatek on the court: "I know you say you can't play on grass but you are very, very good on grass. It was a special week."

Swiatek is set to face Polina Kudermetova in the first round of Wimbledon next week, with Pegula scheduled to take on Elisabetta Cocciaretto in her opening match.

Neither player has ever reached the semi-finals at the All England Club, with Aryna Sabalenka going into the tournament as the favourite to lift the trophy.

The best tennis players on the planet will now head to London for the event if they haven't already travelled, but Pegula won't be staying in the same hotel as her tennis rivals after deciding to make other arrangements.