 "Tennis roundup: Tommy Paul wins Queen's, Sinner triumphs in Halle, Pegula crowned in Berlin")
Tommy Paul added his name to a list of American tennis greats in winning the Queen’s Club tennis title after defeating Lorenzo Musetti 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) in Sunday’s final.
Victory gave the fifth-seeded American his third ATP tour title – and biggest success of his career – after he won in straight sets after 88 minutes on court in London.
Paul became the first United States player to win the prestigious Wimbledon warm-up tournament since Sam Querrey in 2010 as he joined a group of former American champions at Queen’s, including John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Pete Sampras – who all won Wimbledon as well.
“It means everything,” said Paul, who knocked out Britain’s Jack Draper in the quarter-finals.
“Going through the hallways here in the locker room and the names on the wall, it’s unbelievable. It was my goal always to put my name next to them.”
Hoist it aloft TP đź‘Ź
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 23, 2024
ATP Title no.3 🏆🏆🏆@TommyPaul1 #CinchChampionships pic.twitter.com/B9tNlyqmwD
The world number 13 will also overtake compatriot Taylor Fritz to become the new American number one, with Wimbledon starting on July 1.
Paul raced through the first set before Italian opponent Musetti worked his way back into the match.
The 27-year-old Paul failed to serve out the match at 5-4 up in the second set before coming back from 1-4 down in the tie-break and saving a set-point at 6-7.
Musetti saved two match points behind his own serve before Paul took the third to secure the title.
“This was definitely one of the nicest weeks of my career so far,” said Musetti.
“Congratulations to Tommy, he deserved to win. I was struggling to get to his level. I saved face a bit at the end with the break. I was fighting really hard to get to the third set.”
The 22-year-old, who became a father to his first child in March, added: “I want to dedicate this week to my little boy Ludovico. I just want to go back and hug him.”
Sinner edges Hurkacz to win first grass-court title in Halle
World number one Jannik Sinner won his first ever grass court tournament on Sunday beating former champion Hubert Hurkacz 7-6 (10/8), 7-6 (7/2) in the Wimbledon warm-up ATP Halle tournament.
The 22-year-old Italian went to the top of the ATP rankings thanks to his semi-final run at the French Open this month.
“It means a lot. It was a tough match against Hubi,” said Sinner after playing his doubles partner.
“I knew I had to serve really well and you play only a couple of really important points throughout the whole set. So I was happy and I tried to produce in the best possible way in the important moments.
“I’m very happy about this tournament because [winning for] the first time on a grass court, it’s a good feeling.”
NO WAY HUBI 🤯@HubertHurkacz goes over the shoulder with a CRAZY pass 🤩#TerraWortmannOpen pic.twitter.com/eADVWaVf0a
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 23, 2024
The triumph means Sinner is the first player since Andy Murray in 2016 to win his first tournament after becoming world No.1.
The fifth-seeded Pole Hurkacz, 27, won Halle two years ago and was chasing a second title of the season after winning on clay at Estoril in April.
There were no service breaks in the match but Sinner won 85 per cent of his service points compared to only 69 per cent for Hurkacz.
In the second-set tie-break Sinner took the early lead and never relinquished his advantage to claim a fourth title of the season as Hurkacz missed a final backhand.
Pegula powers to first grass-court title in Berlin
Jessica Pegula saved five match points against Anna Kalinskaya to win her first title on grass in the Wimbledon warm-up WTA tournament in Berlin on Sunday.
Fourth seed Pegula pulled through 6-7 (0/7), 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) after earlier ousting top seed Coco Gauff in the semi-final which had been suspended overnight.
Pegula had been leading fellow American Gauff 7-5, 6-6 (3/1) when semi-final action was halted on Saturday night.
She returned to court on Sunday morning to win four of five points to oust doubles partner Gauff 7-5, 7-6 (7/2) and reach her first grass-court final.
“Jess, you’re such a fighter, it’s nice to see you back on tour,” said Kalinskaya after her second defeat in as many meetings with the American.
The victory came in Pegula’s second tournament of her comeback from the rib injury that forced her out of the European clay-court season.
Berlin is Pegula’s fifth career title and first since winning in Seoul last year.
Kalinskaya lost to Pegula in their only previous meeting in the Washington semi-finals in 2019, with the American advancing to win her first title that week.
On Saturday, Aryna Sabalenka and Ons Jabeur joined the procession of injured stars limping off the grass in the Wimbledon warm-up event.
Reigning Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova also retired with a right hip injury during the week with former Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina also withdrawing.
Putintseva beats Tomljanovic in Birmingham
Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva won her first senior grass-court singles title after defeating Australia’s Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1, 7-6 (10/8) in the final of the Birmingham WTA Tour event on Sunday.
The 29-year-old’s previous two WTA tour titles had come on clay courts, in Nurnberg in 2019 and Budapest in 2021.
But on Sunday she prevailed in nearly 90 minutes on court after coming from 5-3 down – and saving two set points – in the second set of the final of this warm-up event for Wimbledon.
Victory saw Putintseva become just the second unseeded Birmingham champion in the last 10 years, following Beatriz Haddad Maia’s title run of 2022.
“I don’t know what I’m feeling because I wasn’t expecting this at all,” Putintseva said afterwards.
“It’s great and it’s confusing because I’ve always been good on clay, but now all of a sudden, I’m good on grass. I’ll take that! It’s great!
“It was a great game. I started so well, and then Ajla dialled up her level to the highest. She was playing really amazing, not giving me any time to think or to do something. The game was even in the end, and I was a bit more lucky.”
This was Tomljanovic’s first tour-level singles final in five years, with the Australian still waiting for her first title.
Even so it was a heartening week for the Australian, formerly 32 in the world rankings, after she missed most of 2023 following knee surgery and then had an operation to remove ovarian cysts.
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