Hurkacz and Berrettini serve notice

HALLE WESTFALEN • Poland's Hubert Hurkacz and Matteo Berrettini of Italy warned the tennis world yesterday that they are ready for Wimbledon, after winning grass-court finals at Halle and Queen's Club respectively.

Hurkacz showed that he is all set for the June 27-July 10 Slam by hammering world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev 6-1, 6-4 to win the ATP 500 event in Halle, Germany.

The world No. 12 defeated Medvedev and Roger Federer en route to the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year and showed he will again be a force to reckon with.

Halle is the Pole's fifth ATP singles title, and he kept his record in finals so far unblemished with his victory in just over an hour when he converted his second match point with a backhand volley.

"I am very happy with the win," said the 25-year-old, who added that he was looking forward to Wimbledon with "confidence".

"He is the best player in the world... So it is tricky. But I was serving well and I had the momentum."

In contrast, it was a fifth straight defeat in a championship match for Medvedev, who has not won a title since beating Novak Djokovic to win last year's US Open for his maiden Major triumph.

Medvedev, who is not allowed to compete at Wimbledon due to its ban on Russian and Belarusian players over the invasion of Ukraine, went into yesterday's match having not dropped a set while saving 22 of the 23 break points he faced in four matches.

But the Russian struggled to get his first serves in as Hurkacz jumped into a 5-0 lead in no time.

Medvedev finally held his serve at 1-5 before Hurkacz wrapped up the opening set in 27 minutes.

He once again broke serve early in the second, continuing to dominate the rallies. Medvedev saved two break points to hold serve in the seventh game to stay close, but he could not get the break back against his opponent, who did not allow the Russian a single opportunity on his own delivery during the entire match.

Meanwhile, Berrettini retained his ATP 500 Queen's Club title in London with a 7-5, 6-4 defeat of Serbia's Filip Krajinovic, as the world No. 10 gave himself the perfect launch pad into Wimbledon.

The Italian, who also claimed the title in Stuttgart this month, has now won 20 of his last 21 matches on grass, his only defeat coming in last year's All England final to Djokovic.

He was made to work hard by Krajinovic, who broke back in the first set, only to get broken again at 5-5. A Krajinovic double fault proved costly at 2-3 in the second set as Berrettini secured the decisive break of serve and went on to secure his seventh career title.

"There are so many emotions," Berrettini, who had just returned to the Tour following three months out with a hand injury, said during the trophy ceremony.

"I know that Wimbledon is different but I know that I can do it."

Elsewhere, Tunisian top seed Ons Jabeur claimed the title in Berlin after Tokyo Olympic champion Belinda Bencic retired injured when she was 6-3, 2-1 down.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS