World No. 1 player on the ATP Tour, Daniil Medvedev, continued his bizarre grass season with another run to the final and then another easy loss.
After Novak Djokovic failed to win the Roland Garros, Medvedev overtook him as the World No. 1 player again, and this was the first event he played during his second stint as the player on top of the rankings.
He started his 2022 grass season at the Libema Open in the week following Roland Garros. He played wonderfully all week long until the final, in which he was beaten by World No. 205 at that time.
That was a shocking upset, especially since Tim van Rijthoven won the match 6-4, 6-1. It happened one day before Medvedev was supposed to take over as World No. 1, making the loss even more shocking.
The Halle Open final wasn’t as bizarre as that one but it was very similar in ways. Once again, Medvedev played a wonderful event to make the final. In the final, he faced a player who was much better ranked than Tim Van Rijthoven, but again, it wasn’t that close.
Hurkacz is a solid player who was actually undefeated in finals coming into this match. With the win against Medvedev, Hurkacz is now 5-0 in finals, which is impressive on its own.
Hurkacz set the tone early in this match, winning the opening set 6-1. The second set was a bit closer, but it was still a pretty easy win for Hurkacz, who won it 6-4.
It simply wasn’t a particularly close match. Medvedev's serve was not working; his groundstrokes were sailing wide, while Hurkacz was simply superb from start to finish.
Still, the Russian player can be certainly happy about another final appearance, while Hurkacz will celebrate his fifth career title.