Hubert Hurkacz pushed World No. 1 Jannik Sinner in the final of the Terra Wortmann Open, but Sinner pulled through to take a 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2) victory on Sunday in Halle, Germany.
With the win comes two milestones for the Italian — his debut title on a grass court and his first championship as No. 1. He became the eighth player since the rankings system took effect in 1973 to win his first tournament as No. 1 and the first since Andy Murray in 2016.
The top-seeded Sinner and fifth-seeded Hurkacz, of Poland, each had won twice in their head-to-head matchups, and Sinner needed one hour, 50 minutes on court before he could raise the trophy.
There weren’t any service breaks in the match, and Sinner was the better server on the day. He won 94 percent of points on his first serve compared to 79 percent for Hurkacz, who recorded 13 aces to 10 for Sinner.
Sinner will be a favorite on the grass courts at Wimbledon, which begins July 1. He lost in the semifinals to Novak Djokovic last year and said he now is more confident of his grass-court skills.
Queen’s Club
Tommy Paul won his third ATP Tour title and the first on a grass court, defeating Lorenzo Musetti of Italy 6-1, 7-6 (8) in London.
After easily winning the first set in the 88-minute match, Paul had to rally in the second set. Paul was serving for the match at 5-4, up a break point, but lost serve, setting up a tiebreaker. Musetti jumped to a 4-1 lead in the tiebreaker, that had set point and couldn’t close out the victory.
Paul, a 27-year-old who lives in Florida, will become the No. 1-ranked American when the new rankings are issued, passing Taylor Fritz. Paul, who never has held that title, will rise to No. 12 in the ATP Rankings. This is Paul’s first ATP 500-level win.
Mallorca Championships
Alex Michelsen, 19, became the youngest player to win a main-draw match at the event, defeating Nuno Borges of Portugal 6-3, 7-6 (4) in Mallorca, Spain.
In other action, Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut quickly disposed of Japan’s Taro Daniel 6-1, 6-0, while Roberto Carballes Baena pulled out a 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (3) victory over Pablo Carreno Busta in an all-Spanish matchup.
