In an amazing turn of events, Hurkacz wins the Halle Open beating Danil Medvedev in straight sets. Both players had a fine run reaching the final, and it was all set to be an exciting trophy round. Since Medvedev, for obvious reasons, is not part of Wimbledon, this was his chance to get his hands on a grass court trophy. Hurkacz is ready with full guns blazing for Wimbledon. He is a serious threat and has to be taken seriously. Has the potential to beat anybody in his current form. Huge serve with powerful forehand and backhand. Even the top players would have to be at their best to beat his best.
Halle Open is a 500 ATP tournament held every in Halle, Germany. It is a great platform to showcase grass-court abilities before the start of Wimbledon. This year marked the 29th edition of the tournament. The winner in the singles category male wins prize money of €399,170 as compared to €84,075 in the female category. The likes of Stefano Tsitsipas, Danil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev, Félix Auger-Aliassime, and Nick Kyrgios participated in the tournament. Deservingly so, Hurkacz won the title in great fashion. He finished the final without losing the set. 6-1, 6-4 was the final score.
Here is the breakdown of what happened in the final match between Hurkacz and Medvedev.
Halle Open 2022- First Set
The first set went 6-1 in favor of Hurkacz, which clearly shows how dominant he was in the set. He broke Medvedev twice to take a 4-0 lead. His serves were on point. Big, fast serves, which the opponent really had no answers to. He frequently visit the net and played the traditional serve and volley game, perfectly suited for grass. We saw wonderful passing shots down the line, and even though Medvedev won the 6th game, making the score 5-1, it was just too late.
Since grass is the fastest surface to play on, the cup winner had a number of powerful groundstrokes. This resulted in a number of winners. Medvedev was seen struggling to find answers to any of the shots he was fired at. Hurkacz won game 7 and took the first set with ease.
A Decent Second Set
Heading into the second set, lightning struck twice as Hurkacz again broke the number 1 seed’s serve. Then the entire set was all about winning their serve games. The Polish number 1 finished the second set and the match 6-4. An interesting fact, Medvedev did not create even a single break point opportunity in the entire match. Hurkacz had all the answers to Medvedev’s questions. Whenever he was dragged to the net by the volleys, his lobs finished off the rallies. Whether it was serves, volleys, lobs, or ground shots, Hurkacz looked in sublime touch. This is the second consecutive ATP Final loss for Medvedev and something the world number 1 needs to look at.
In the final, Hurkacz made an astonishing 24 winners as opposed to Medvedev’s 17 and only 7 unforced errors compared to 15 by Medvedev. He also had 84% point off his first serve, while the number seed could manage only 62%. The Polish’s confidence is sky high, and we hope he gives a great performance in the upcoming Wimbledon.
Also Read: Rafael Nadal Confident Of Playing In Wimbledon: Says He Is Improving Everyday
