Last week hosted the only two ATP500 tournaments on grass, Halle and Queens. I was lucky to visit the German grass tournament myself and see the semifinals in person, which gave some great tennis and possibly also a look into the early Wimbledon favorites. But who really excelled in Westfalen and who still has some work to do? Check also our recap of the Queens Club ATP tournament.
The draw and top seeds:
Going into the tournament, the top favorite wasn’t hard to find: Jannik Sinner came into the Halle week as the World No. 1 and top seed. He was joined by German No. 1 Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Hubert Hurkacz. So, an exciting field of players for an ATP 500 event, with great matchups from the first round on. Especially the first round match between Jannik Sinner and Tallon Griekspoor was very promising and delivered not only a challenge for the top seed, but also great tennis.
Zverev also had to fight through a tough match with Oscar Otte, while Andrey Rublev was not lucky enough to make an escape against Marcos Giron. Other surprises in early rounds were the exit of Tsitsipas against Struff, who seems to always be a problem when serving well, and the three set victory of Zhizhen Zhang against Medvedev.
Final rounds – favorites shining
Alongside the top two seeds, the quarterfinals were set up with young talent Arthur Fils of France, the Americans Giron and Eubanks, serve experts Struff and Hurkacz and finally Zhizhen Zhang. The Chinese seems to get into prime grass shape pretty fast, because after a sub-par tournament in Stuttgart, he reached the semis in Halle with a victory over Eubanks and sets himself up to be a week two contender in Wimbledon.
Jannik Sinner battled through Jan-Lennard Struff and kept on improving, while Zverev and Hurkacz set up the biggest serving semifinal in the bottom half.
In close fought semifinals, Sinner beat the surprising Zhang, who really challenged him with hard serving and long rallies for a grass match. It was a match that was very close, but it always seemed that Sinner had another answer ready, especially in the tiebreak of the final set. The bottom half semifinal was a serve exhibition by Hurkacz, with Zverev unfortunately producing a few mistakes late in the first and early in the second set. And against a Hurkacz at this form, it is incredibly hard to recover from a break down.
Sinner the Winner once again!
So, the Sunday final was between the World No. 1 Sinner and Hubert Hurkacz and after my visit to their semifinals, I wouldn’t have betted against the Polish star. His serving seemed to be invincible, and he had only lost one game at serve the entire tournament.
But Jannik Sinner isn’t at the top for no reason – he found a way to win in two tiebreaks and celebrated his 14th career title in Halle. It’s his first career title on grass, which seems incredible given his natural movement on this surface and quick adaption. His improved serve makes him one of the odds favorites for the 2024 Wimbledon, as Carlos Alcaraz struggled in Queens and Djokovic seems either out or massively limited after his recent knee surgery.
Other players, that seem to be in shape for the third Slam of the season, are Sascha Zverev, who played some inspired tennis up to the semfinal, and his opponent there, Hubert Hurkacz. If the Pole can keep up his level of serving, he will be incredibly tough to beat on the fastest surface of the year and especially in five sets, opponents will have to always keep their concentration.
On the other hand, it seems that Rublev, Medvedev and Tsitsipas still have work at their hand for next week. None of them is playing in Mallorca or the ATP Eastbourne, but I am sure that they will work their tails off in Wimbledon, to be battle-ready once the tournament starts.
Surprise of the week surely goes to Zhizhen Zhang, who previously seemed to be most comfortable on clay, but is extending his repertoire continuously. French youngster Arthur Fils, Chris Eubanks and Jan-Lennard Struff also stood out to me, as they all can take down favorites on a good day for sure.
