Jannik Sinner won the Halle Open to register his first tournament win as World No.1. It was a wonderful way to kick-start his Grass court journey and he did it confidently. His remarkable year continues as he added to the trophy pile.
Sinner was up against his doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz in the final and both of them played amazing tennis throughout the match. Though Sinner won in straight sets, there was nothing straightforward about it as he struggled to get an edge over the Pole.
Both the players were accurate with their serves, and there were no service breaks during this match. Although Sinner had a better percentage of first-service, games, they were very clear on their motives today. In the end, it was Sinner who prevailed in the tie-break 7-6(8),7-6(2).
However, his girlfriend Anna Kalinskaya lost her final in Berlin. Even though she had 5 match points against Jessica Pegula, she was unable to close it out and eventually lost the finals. Sinner still had a sweet message for her during his celebration at Halle.
My girlfriend Anna, she played in Berlin today. She lost with six match points so I am very sorry for her but she also had an amazing week. Jannik Sinner said during his post-match presentation
Nonetheless, it was a happy day for the tennis couple as they made it to the finals of their individual tournaments and were even very close to making it a double title, with the Russian missing it by a whisker. However, her boyfriend won his fourth title of the season and looks stronger than ever as he enters Wimbledon.
Jannik Sinner joins a prestigious list of players to win their very first tournament after becoming World No.1
Jannik Sinner continued his rich vein of form as he kickstarted his Grass court season on a high. He beat Hubert Hurkacz in straight sets to secure his fourth title of the season and the first on the third surface.
With that, Sinner reached new milestones. Not only did he make it into the prestigious list of tennis legends to win their first tournament since becoming world No.1 but also recorded good numbers for the year. The list includes names like Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Bjorn Borg and Pete Sampras.
He became the 17th active male player to win a tour-level title on hard, clay, and grass courts. Sinner now has 14 titles in his career, 12 of them being on hard courts. A great preparation for Wimbledon, where he will target his second major title.