World No. 1 Jannik Sinner defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(8), 7-6(2) on Sunday to claim the Halle Open trophy. The Italian star faced tough challenges in his first three matches, conceding a set in each, but fought through to ultimately secure the ATP 500 title.
Sinner’s victory marks him as the eighth player in ATP Rankings history (since 1973) to win a trophy in his debut tournament as World No. 1. Reflecting on the match, Sinner said, “It means a lot. It was a tough match against Hubi. I knew I had to serve really well, and you only play a couple of really important points throughout the whole set. So I was happy and tried to perform in the best possible way during those moments. Winning for the first time on the grass court is a good feeling.”
Entering Sunday’s match, Sinner and Hurkacz were tied 2-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. In their first grass-court encounter, both players were evenly matched, but Sinner excelled in the crucial stages, securing the win after one hour and 50 minutes. “In the important moments, he served a couple of second serves in the tie-break, which made the difference. That was the key today,” Sinner remarked.
The match saw no service breaks, with Sinner winning 85% of his serve points, while Hurkacz won 69%, according to ATP Stats. Sinner is optimistic about his upcoming tournaments, saying, “I’m just looking forward to it. Last year I made [the] semis, played some good tennis. I’m more confident now. The grass surface here might be a bit different from Wimbledon, but I have one week to prepare, so hopefully, it will be a good tournament.”
In the first-set tie-break, Sinner gained an advantage when Hurkacz missed a short forehand wide. Hurkacz had a chance to win the set at 7/6 but squandered it with a missed forehand passing shot from far behind the baseline. Sinner capitalized on the opportunity, applying pressure and clinching the set and the match.
