Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz won the Halle Open title after defeating World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev in straight sets here on Sunday.
The fifth-seed Pole broke Medvedev three times on his way to a quick-fire 6-1, 6-4 win and secured his maiden tour-level title on grass in just 63 minutes on OWL Arena.
Claiming his fifth tour-level trophy in Halle sees Hurkacz projected to return to the Top 10 in the ATP Rankings for the first time since January.
The 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist Hurkacz had come through his quarterfinal against Felix Auger-Aliassime and his semifinal against Nick Kyrgios without breaking serve once, but the 25-year-old made immediate inroads in the championship match as he broke twice to race to a 5-0 lead early.
He wrapped up the first set with ease having fired eight winners, including five aces.
Medvedev’s frustration began to show as Hurkacz broke again in the first game of the second set, and although the World No. 1 did raise his level on serve, he was unable to make an impact on the powerful Hurkacz delivery.
The early break proved enough for the Pole to seal a comprehensive win having won 84 percent (32/38) of points behind his first serve in the match and without facing a breakpoint.
Granollers-Zeballos win men’s doubles title
Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos held off a stirring late comeback from Tim Puetz and Michael Venus to clinch the 2022 Halle Open men’s doubles title, here on Sunday.
A crashing forehand return winner from Granollers proved the moment of magic necessary to break the deadlock late at OWL Arena, where the top seeds prevailed 6-4, 6-7(5), 14-12 in a dramatic championship match to seal their first grass-court crown as a team.
Granollers and Zeballos had appeared on course for a more comfortable climax to a tight encounter when leading 5/0 in the Match Tie-break. However, home favourite Puetz and New Zealander Venus rallied to force two match points of their own at 10/9 and 12/11, before Granollers’ intervention secured a seventh tour-level title for the Spanish-Argentine pairing.
