(Reuters) – Polish tennis player Hubert Hurkacz showed his Wimbledon credentials on Sunday as he defeated Russian No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 to win Germany’s Halle Open, a ATP 500 tournament played on grass.
Number 12 in the world, Hurkacz defeated Medvedev and Roger Federer to reach the Wimbledon semi-finals last year, and has shown that he will once again be a strong contender when the tournament starts on June 27.
Halle is the 25-year-old Pole’s fifth singles title on the men’s circuit, and he’s maintained his impeccable record in finals with the win in just over an hour when he converted his second match point with a left volley.
“I’m really excited, I’ve been waiting a little bit for my first (title) this year,” Hurkacz said during his winning speech. “I’m happy to win my first ATP 500 title and of course grass is very special.”
“Daniil is an incredible player. He’s the best player in the world, so it’s hard to play against him. All the right punches went my way at first, so I definitely gained momentum.”
In contrast, it was the fifth straight decision loss for Medvedv, who has not been champion since beating Novak Djokovic to win the 2021 US Open — his first title of one of the four most important tournaments on the calendar.
(Reporting by Sudipto Ganguly, Mumbai)
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