Hubert Hurkacz of Wroclaw, Poland won the 2022 Halle Open in Germany. The event is considered one of the prestigious ATP 500 grass events leading up to Wimbledon.
In the final, Hurkacz defeated world number one Daniil Medvedev of Russia 6-1, 6-4. This was the second ATP grass court tournament where Medvedev reached the final, but lost this month. Last week he was upset by the 205th ranked player in the world, Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-1 in the final of the Libema Open in Rosmalen, Netherlands. What was unique about these scorelines is the fact that Medvedev only won five total games in each of these two matches, and in both situations, was steamrolled by his opponent.
Medvedev did not see a break point opportunity the entire match. Meanwhile, Hurkacz had eight chances of which he broke Medvedev thrice.
Leading up to the final in Halle, Hurkacz, who was the fifth seed, beat American qualifier Maxime Cressy 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in the first round, Ugo Humbert of France 7-6, 6-3 in the second round, the 2021 United States Open semifinalist and fourth seed, Felix Auger-Aliassime 7-6, 7-6 in the quarterfinals, and the wildcard from Australia, Nick Kyrgios, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 in the semifinals. Hurkacz is starting to make a name for himself on grass. Remember, just last year he reached the semifinals of Wimbledon. He made headlines by beating Roger Federer of Switzerland in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 7-6, 6-0.
This was Hurkacz’s fifth career ATP title. He previously won the 2019 Winston-Salem Open, the 2021 Delray Beach Open, the 2021 Miami Open, and 2021 Moselle Open. The 2021 Miami Open is part of the ATP Masters 1000 Series. In that final, Hurkacz beat Jannik Sinner of Italy, 7-6, 6-4.
