Seed Sinner Advances To Last 16 At Halle Open

World number one Jannik Sinner began his Halle Open campaign with a straight sets victory over Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, winning 7-5, 6-3 to reach the round of 16. The tournament marks Sinner’s return to competition following his epic five-and-a-half-hour loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the French Open final.

Sinner, who is aiming to defend the only grasscourt title of his career, overcame the challenge of world No. 138 Hanfmann, acknowledging the difficulty of the matchup.

I’m really pleased with the win. Hanfmann is a strong server and solid from the baseline, which makes breaking him on grass particularly tough, Sinner said. Mentally, I handled the tight moments well. The first set could’ve gone to a tiebreak, and then anything can happen.

The Italian top seed noted the unique demands of grasscourt play. First matches on grass are always tricky and so are the second and third ones. I think I have a day off tomorrow, which is great because the body feels very different on this surface.

Next, Sinner will take on Alexander Bublik, the 2023 Halle champion, who also faced him in this year’s French Open quarter-finals. Calling Bublik an unpredictable opponent, Sinner said he expects the unexpected.

He’s a tremendous player and an incredible talent. Grass is his best surface. He’s beaten me here before and won the title here, so he clearly enjoys playing in Halle,Sinner added. I’ll try to stay calm and focused and see how far I can go. He’s a versatile player who can do anything, so hopefully it will be a good match.

In other matches, Russian fourth seed Andrey Rublev progressed with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Sebastian Ofner. However, several seeded players were eliminated, sixth seed Ugo Humbert fell to Denis Shapovalov in a tight 6-4, 4-6, 7-6(4) match, while fifth seed Francisco Cerundolo lost to American Alex Michelsen 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.

Felix Auger-Aliassime also advanced, outlasting Laslo Djere in a hard-fought 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-1 battle.