Jannik Sinner & Hubi Hurkacz reaching the Halle singles final is what we all needed. Rivals. Doubles partners. But friends first. ❤️ 🇮🇹🇵🇱
Preview 2024 Halle Open Final: Jannik Sinner targets first grass-court title, faces Hurkacz in final showdown
ATPSaturday, 22 June 2024 at 22:30
The
world No. 1 Jannik Sinner will seek his fourth title of the 2024 season at the
Halle Open when he faces 5th seed Hubert Hurkacz (No. 9) in his final match
before Wimbledon.
The Italian entered the tournament as the top seed and has
not had an easy path through the draw. In the semifinals, he delivered a strong
performance against Zhang Zhizhen, securing his first straight-sets victory. On
the other hand, Hurkacz had an impressive semifinal outing, defeating world No.
4 Alexander Zverev.
Sinner set to challenge Hurkacz for fourth 2024 title
In his
first tournament as No. 1, the Italian has shown strong form on the grass
swing. Sinner boasts 37 wins in 40 matches this season, with three titles,
including his maiden Grand Slam at the Australian Open. This will be his first
grass-court final of his career.
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The
22-year-old had a tough semifinal encounter, taking one hour and 40 minutes to
overcome Zhang Zhizhen. With over 80% first serves in, he virtually did not
allow his opponent a chance to threaten his service and saved the only break
point against him while capitalizing on his sole break opportunity.
"It
means a lot. I had four very tough matches to go to the final," Sinner
said in his post-match interview. "It was a good match today. Definitely
more rallies than yesterday and that's exactly what I needed today. I'm happy
and let's see what's coming tomorrow."
Jannik Sinner with his first Grand Slam trophy in 2024 Australian Open.
Now he
faces his first challenge against a top-10 opponent in the tournament. Hurkacz
has demonstrated in previous years that he becomes particularly strong on grass
with his excellent service and holds a 2-2 head-to-head record against Sinner,
backed by a strong present on the Tour as he will reach his career-best ranking
of world No. 7 on Monday.
The
Polish player defeated the second seed, Alexander Zverev, in the semifinals
with a score of 7-6(2), 6-4. The 2022 champion seeks to repeat his title in
Halle and arrive at Wimbledon with maximum confidence.
Hurkacz
expressed confidence ahead of the final against Sinner: "I am really
confident on my serve. I am serving really good. There were some moments but I
managed to believe in my game and hit some good serves and good shots, so I
stayed pretty calm."
At 27
years old, he will play his 11th tour-level final in his fifth encounter
against Sinner, with the opportunity to become the fourth player to win more
than one title in Halle, following Tommy Haas (2-time champion), Yevgeny
Kafelnikov (3-time champion), and Roger Federer (10-time champion).
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