Jannik Sinner Triumphs in Halle: Clinches First Grass-Court Title and Joins Exclusive ATP No. 1 Club
Jannik Sinner secures the victory in Halle to become the eighth man to win his first event as ATP no. 1.
Following Roland Garros, the 22-year-old climbed to the top and won his maiden grass-court championship over Hubert Hurkacz.
In the ATP 500-level event final on Sunday, Jannik Sinner defeated Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (8), 7-6 (2) to win his fourth ATP title of the year and his first on grass.
And with the victory, he joins an extremely elite group, turning into the eighth person in the history of the ATP rankings to win his first match while ranked No. 1.
MEN TO WIN FIRST EVENT AS ATP NO. 1 (since 1973):
Jimmy Connors (1974 Indianapolis)
Bjorn Borg (1979 Monte Carlo)
Mats Wilander (1988 Palermo)
Stefan Edberg (1990 Long Island)
Pete Sampras (1993 Hong Kong)
Novak Djokovic (2011 Canada)
Andy Murray (2016 ATP Finals)
Jannik Sinner (2024 Halle)
And goes on
In fact, Sinner, 22, is the youngest man to accomplish the feat since Sampras in 1993 and the third-youngest ever, behind Connors, 21, and Sampras, 21.
YOUNGEST MEN TO WIN FIRST EVENT AS ATP NO. 1 (since 1973):
Pete Sampras [21 years, 8 months]
Jimmy Connors [21 years, 11 months]
Jannik Sinner [22 years, 10 months]
Bjorn Borg [22 years, 10 months]
Mats Wilander [24 years, 1 month]
Novak Djokovic [24 years, 2 months]
Stefan Edberg [24 years, 7 months]
Andy Murray [29 years, 6 months]
Sinner is 22 years, 10 months, and 7 days younger than Borg, who was 22 years, 10 months, and 9 days older when he won the first event he participated in as No. 1.
Though Sinner had a couple close calls—he saved a break point in the match’s fourth game and a set point down 7-6 in the first set tie-break—there were no breaks of serve in the all-Top 10 final at the ATP 500 event. However, he ultimately proved to be too strong towards the finish of both sets, defeating Hurkacz for the third time in their five career matches and ending their 2-2 head-to-head record.
Sinner is 22 years, 10 months, and 7 days younger than Borg, who was 22 years, 10 months, and 9 days older when he won the first event he participated in as No. 1.
Though Sinner had a couple close calls—he saved a break point in the match’s fourth game and a set point down 7-6 in the first set tie-break—there were no breaks of serve in the all-Top 10 final at the ATP 500 event. However, he ultimately proved to be too strong towards the finish of both sets, defeating Hurkacz for the third time in their five career matches and ending their 2-2 head-to-head record.
Now that Sinner has achieved victory on all three ATP surfaces in his career, the bulk of his 14 career titles—12—occur on hard courts. This year, he won his biggest career triumph at the Australian Open. He has already won one on grass and one on clay, in 2022 in Umag.
Jessica Pegula Wins Her 20th Career Top 10 Match When She Overcomes Coco Gauff in the Berlin Semifinals
Since 2021, the United States has won all 20 of their Top 10 matches. Jessica Pegula recuperated quickly from her rib injury that kept her out of the European clay-court season.
The fifth-ranked American has advanced to the Berlin final after overcoming Coco Gauff in a two-day semifinal match at the WTA 500 grass-court competition, 7-5, 7-6 (2).
And Pegula’s triumph accomplished several goals.
It’s her first final of the year, to start with. She defeated three of the Top 4—including Gauff—in her final match of the year, the WTA Finals, where she was runner-up to Iga Swiatek.
Secondly, it’s her first-ever grass-court championship game. Her greatest past performances were three quarterfinals at Berlin in 2021, Eastbourne and Wimbledon in the previous year, and she had never even made it to the semifinals of a grass-court competition before this one.
Lastly, she achieved a career high by defeating the second-ranked Gauff, marking her 20th Top 10 triumph. Her first career Top 10 victory was against Elina Svitolina at the 2021 Australian Open, and all 20 of her subsequent triumphs have occurred in the past three and a half years.
Since last summer, she has actually won eight of her previous nine matches against competitors ranked in the top ten.
Also Read: Rafael Nadal’s Tennis Career – A Glorious Journey: Tennis Updates 2024
PEGULA VS TOP 10 PLAYERS SINCE AUGUST 2023 (8-1):
d. No. 7 Gauff in 2023 Montreal QFs, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5
d. No. 1 Swiatek in 2023 Montreal SFs, 6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-4
d. No. 6 Sakkari in 2023 Tokyo SFs, 6-2, 6-3
d. No. 4 Rybakina in 2023 WTA Finals RR, 7-5, 6-2
d. No. 1 Sabalenka in 2023 WTA Finals RR, 6-4, 6-3
d. No. 9 Sakkari in 2023 WTA Finals RR, 6-3, 6-2
d. No. 3 Gauff in 2023 WTA Finals SFs, 6-2, 6-1
l. to No. 2 Swiatek in 2023 WTA Finals F, 6-1 6-0
d. No. 2 Gauff in 2024 Berlin SFs, 7-5, 7-6 (2)
On Saturday, their semifinal matchup started—and nearly concluded.
Pegula took the early lead, taking the first break of the game at 4-3 and hanging on for a 5-3 victory. Gauff broke back to even the match at five games to one, but Pegula broke once more before closing off the opening set with a massive cross-court backhand that forced a mistake on set point.
In the second set, Gauff struck back, broke for 3-1 and taking leads of 4-1 and 5-2. However, Pegula regained the break and forced a tie-break, where play was halted by rain after she took a 3-1 lead and was finally postponed till Sunday.
On Sunday at noon local time, the game was resumed, and Pegula won four of the following five points to seal the victory.
Pegula will compete against Anna Kalinskaya for the title after a hiatus.
