Hubert Hurkacz beats Daniil Medvedev to clinch Halle Open title

HALLE: Hubert Hurkacz put on one of the best performances of the 2022 grass season so far, dismantling world number one Daniil Medvedev in the final of the Halle Open to claim his first title of the year.

Hurkacz broke Medvedev three times en route to a 6-1, 6-4 victory on grass, which gave him his first tour-level prize.

The 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist was imperious behind his serve and powerful from the baseline as he cruised to his first ATP 500 title in 63 minutes.

The fifth seed will move up two spots to number 10 in the ATP Live Rankings after winning his fifth tour-level event. He joins Carlos Alcaraz, the current World No. 7, as the seventh player in the Open Era to win his first five tour-level championship matches.

For the second week in a row, Medvedev was in a grass-court final. The World No. 1 struggled to find his top-level throughout the title match, just as he did against Tim Van Rijthoven in's-Hertogenbosch a week ago.

Medvedev is now 0-3 in tour-level finals in 2022, and he's still looking for his first triumph since winning the US Open in September.

Hurkacz now has a 3-2 advantage over Medvedev in their ATP Head2Head series. The 25-year-old also won the pair's only prior matching this season, at the Miami Open presented by Itau quarter-finals in March.

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