Zverev's aspirations face a crushing blow.
Zverev should've avoided the disappointment: Zverev has to carry on waiting for his initial triumph at the Halle grass tourney. The top German tennis player made it to the semis this year, but his dreams of more were cruelly shattered.
Zverev shook his head in frustration and left the Center Court in Halle: The olympic tennis champ has to keep waiting for his long-awaited first home win in Ostwestfalen. The French Open finalist was out in the semis of the grass tourney against the formidable Polish player Hubert Hurkacz with a score of 6:7 (2:7), 4:6, taking a small step back in preparation for the classic in Wimbledon (1. to 14. July).
In the final, Hurkacz, the Halle champion of 2022, will face either Jannik Sinner from Italy or the Chinese Zhang Zhizhen. "It feels great. I love the grass, the surface just suits my game," said Hurkacz.
Zverev, who lost to the Pole for the first time, missed out on his third final appearance in Halle since 2016 and 2017, and continues to chase his first career title on a surface he's not fond of.
Hurkacz crushes hopes
Zverev's dislike for the speedy surface is also clear in his Wimbledon results. At least some self-confidence could Zverev find from his three wins in Halle.
However, Zverev's performance in the "German Wimbledon" had been looking up, after he had missed the tournament in Stuttgart due to his dramatic loss in the Roland Garros final against Carlos Alcaraz. But on Saturday, Zverev hardly had any responses against Hurkacz, who hit powerful 17 aces.
Both top players showed no mercy in their serve games and stayed composed despite two medical stoppages in the crowd. In the tiebreak, Hurkacz, who will climb to seventh place on the world rankings from Monday, had the better nerves. In the second set, the Pole didn't allow himself to be stopped after an early break and sealed the win after around 1:30 hours of play, sending Zverev packing as the last German, with Jan-Lennard Struff coming close to Sinner the previous day.
