Shortly before the grass court classic at Wimbledon in Halle, Westphalia, Alexander Zverev wanted to reach the final for the third time. But his Polish opponent was too strong.
French Open finalist Alexander Zverev missed the longed-for home victory in his Wimbledon preparations. In Halle, Westphalia, Germany’s best tennis professional lost to the Polish top ten player Hubert Hurkacz 6:7 (2:7), 4:6 and was eliminated in the semifinals.
Zverev will have to wait for his third final and his first title at the grass-court tournament, having lost in the indoor final in 2016 and 2017. Hurkacz, who won the Terra Wortmann Open 2022, made it to the final again.
On Sunday (2 p.m.) he will challenge world number one Jannik Sinner. One day after his narrow victory in the quarterfinals against Jan-Lennard Struff from Sauerland, the Italian also defeated the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen. 6:4, 7:6 (7:3) was the result for Sinner, who is also in good form on grass. The grass Grand Slam tournament in Wimbledon begins in a week’s time on Monday.
Hurkacz with a powerful serve
Zverev ultimately failed against Hurkacz due to the Pole’s strong serve and brief periods of weakness. At first he seemed like the more confident player and did not let unplanned breaks throw him off his rhythm. In the middle of the first set, the evenly matched match had to be interrupted for several minutes; a spectator in the stands needed medical attention. The two tennis pros waited patiently on the grass until they could continue.
Zverev then had two break chances, but Hurkacz fended them off, as well as the two break points directly before the break. After the break, both players looked up at the stands again, and paramedics were on duty again.
Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Hurkacz is known for his enormous serving power. So it was hardly surprising that the first set was decided in a tiebreak. Before that, Zverev was the more stable player, but in the decisive moment at the end of the set, the German number one had a few weaker rallies.
No home win for Zverev
“I love playing here. Tennis has given me so much. If I can then play in a full stadium in Germany, then I will be the happiest person in the world,” said Zverev after his hard-fought success in the quarterfinals against Frenchman Arthur Fils.
The home advantage did not help him to equalize the set. Hurkacz improved, continued to serve powerfully and offered more resistance to the Hamburg player’s serve. The Pole ended up with 17 aces in the statistics, Zverev only managed five. A lack of concentration during the first and only break chance against him led to Zverev losing his serve, a forehand landed out. Zverev was unable to create another break chance, seemed a little confused and suffered defeat after 1:35 hours.
Source: Stern
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