Sinner beats Hurkacz to win first title on grass at Halle Open

Italy’s Jannik Sinner won his first grasscourt title by edging his doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 7-6 in the Halle Open final on Sunday.

The win marks the 22-year-old Australian Open champion’s 14th singles career title.

Neither player could break serve and both sets went to tiebreaks in which top seed Sinner prevailed against the fifth-seeded Pole.

The first of those tiebreaks unusually stretched to 10-8 in Sinner’s favour, with the second seeing the Italian clinch the match via a more straightforward 7-2 tiebreak success.

The top seed had a chance to go 2-0 up in the second set but Hurkacz saved two break points as both players again held their serves before Sinner claimed the title.

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“It’s inspiring what you’ve been doing the last 12 months,” Hurkacz told Sinner. “Jannik becoming number one in the world is really special. I try to learn from that. Big congrats.”

Sinner also congratulated fifth seed Hurkacz, who won the Halle Open in 2022, for reaching another final.

“We’re very good friends off court…seeing us play the final here is very special. Thank you so much,” he said.

World No 1 Sinner is preparing for Wimbledon, where he reached the semi-finals last year. The Grand Slam tournament starts on July 1.

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Poland’s Hurkacz has to settle for the runner-up prize after a very tight two sets

Berlin Open: Pegula knocks out Gauff in semis, beats Kalinskaya in final

Jessica Pegula knocked out top seed and fellow American Coco Gauff 7-5 7-6 in a rain-interrupted semi-final clash and went on to beat Anna Kalinskaya 6-7 6-4 7-6 in the final to win the Berlin Open on Sunday.

The semi-final was suspended on Saturday due to rain, with world no 5 Pegula leading 7-5 6-6(3-1). She wasted no time after the match resumed under a cloudy sky on Sunday, winning four of the last five points to reach the final.

Pegula lost a competitive first set to Russian Kalinskaya after both players broke the other three times each. But the American bounced back, breaking in the very first game to set up a win in the second set.

Pegula, 30, broke Kalinskaya to take a 3-1 lead in the third set, but the Russian 25-year-old fought back with a break of her own and saved four break points in the next game to make it 4-4.

Kalinskaya was on the verge of two more breaks that would have taken her to victory but the American saved five match points to win both games and take the set into tiebreaker, where she ultimately prevailed.

The win marked Pegula’s fifth career singles title and the first on grass, days before she competes in the Wimbledon where she reached the quarter-finals last year.

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In the run-up to the third Grand Slam of 2024 – Wimbledon – you can watch all of the biggest tennis stars in action live on Sky Sports as they compete across the grass-court season.

Berlin Open (WTA 500) – June 17-23Halle (ATP 500) – June 17-23Mallorca Championships (ATP 250) – June 23-29Bad Homburg (WTA 500) – June 23-29

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