Alexander Zverev was playing really well this week at the 2024 Halle Open, but then he ran into a Polish wall named Hubert Hurkacz, who ended his stay in the German city.
Zverev had high hopes of making a good start on grass in Halle, and for the most part, he did that. He didn't go as far as he hoped to go, but he brought a really high level to the surface.
He played really well in Paris on clay, but the way he quickly transitioned to grass was seamless. In the quarter-final, things didn't quite go according to plan for the top seed.
He faced former Halle Open champion Hurkacz, who is always a tricky opponent, regardless of surface, and he couldn't find solutions, at least when it mattered. The German was seemingly the better player in the opening set.
He had multiple break points and never allowed Hurkacz close to one on his serve, but it didn't matter as he didn't convert any of them. The set ended up in a tie-break, which can always go either, and it did as Hurkacz jumped out to a 4-1 lead.
Boosted by that, the Polish player easily won the tie-break 7-2 to snatch away a set. His saving grace was the serve, especially towards the end of the set, as he totaled 13 aces.
The momentum-shifting tie-break allowed Hurkacz to break Zverev early in the second set, as he had full confidence in his baseline play as well. When the Pole is playing well, he's like a wall, which Zverev struggled greatly with.
The German made some adjustments in the second set, minimizing what his opponent could do with his serve, but it didn't get him too far. The Polish player didn't have too many aces in the second set, but he was still pretty untouchable on his first serve.
That's what allowed him to win in the end, as he won the match 7-6(2), 6-4, to reach yet another final in Halle, and he might just face his doubles partner, Jannik Sinne in that final.
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