World No.1 Sinner reaches first grass final in Halle

World number one Jannik Sinner reached his first career grass-court final when he beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) at Halle on Saturday.
“It means a lot. I had four very tough matches to go to the final,” Sinner said in his post-semi-final interview. “It was a good match today.”
In the final the Italian, will face Pole Hubert Hurkacz who beat Alexander Zverev 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 in the pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournament. Sinner and Zhang both dominated on serve and only allowed one break point each.
Sinner converted his only break point and that was enough to take the first set. Zhang’s lone break point gave him set point at 5-6 in the second. Sinner responded by ripping a brave forehand winner and then made a fast start on his way to winning the tie-break.
“In important moments (I was) trying to serve well,” the Italian said. “He returned actually really well in some moments so I had to be very careful. I had to save a set point in the second set. If not I had to go again in three sets. But this is a grass court, anything can happen.”Earlier, Hurkacz beat the second-seeded German in one-hour, 33-minutes. The fifth-seeded Pole, winner in Halle two years ago, will bid to collect his second title of the season after winning on clay at Estoril in April.
“I’m really confident on my serve,” said Hurkacz who fired 17 aces including 13 in the first set and saved all four break points he faced. “It needed to be really good,” said Hurkacz after his first win over Zverev in four meetings, most recently a three-set defeat in the United Cup final, a mixed team event before the Australian Open in Sydney. “That match that was a little bit sitting in the back in my mind,” said Hurkacz.
“I was like, okay, not today.
“He is such a good competitor and is playing good tennis, reaching the final at the French (Open) and playing at a really high level.”
The 27-year-old Hurkacz will aim to clinch his ninth ATP Tour title. “I really love grass,” said Hurkacz, the 2021 Wimbledon semi-finalist. “The surface suits my game and the atmosphere here, having the full crowd is incredible.”
Paul ousts Korda to face
Musetti in Queen’s final
Tommy Paul won an all-American clash with Sebastian Korda on Saturday to set up a final showdown with Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti at the Queen’s ATP tournament in London.
Paul, the fifth seed, triumphed 6-4, 7-6 (7/2) and will overtake Taylor Fritz as the new American number one if he wins his third tour-level trophy on Sunday.
Musetti, 22, survived a fightback from Australia’s Jordan Thompson to win 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in two hours and 18 minutes to advance to his third final and first on grass.
“I am happy and I feel every time I step on grass I learn something and play a little better,”
said Paul, 27, who is preparing for his third final of the season.
“I felt like I did a pretty good job today.”
Paul recovered from letting slip a 5-2 lead in the second set to seal his win in a tie-break, avenging his quarter-final defeat to Korda in ‘s-Hertogenbosch last week.
Korda also lost in the semi-finals at Queen’s last year
Musetti holds a 7-1 record on grass this year, having advanced to the semi-finals in Stuttgart last week.
The Italian struck 14 winners and hit just four unforced errors in the decider, sealing victory on his first match point.
“That was definitely one of the toughest matches of this week. Jordan was playing at an amazing level, especially in the second and third set,” said 30th-ranked
Musetti.