HALLE WESTFALEN: World number seven Andrey Rublev pulled off a straight sets win over Yannick Hanfmann to reach the Halle grass-court quarter-finals on Thursday, avenging a shock defeat to the German in Rome last month.

Rublev, the runner-up in 2021, came through against his 53rd-ranked rival 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

Hanfmann had led 5/3 in the tiebreak but was unable to push on and repeat his last-16 win on the Rome clay on the eve of the French Open.

“The important thing was I was able to win against a tough player like Yannick,” said Rublev.

“The last time he beat me and he’s playing better and better. Especially on grass, he’s even tougher to play against because he has such a good serve and a good game at the net.”

Rublev will be playing in his sixth quarter-final of the season when he faces Tallon Griekspoor.

Dutchman Griekspoor, who was the champion on grass at ‘s-Hertogenbosch last weekend, defeated defending champion Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10/8).

Hurkacz had beaten Griekspoor in a five-set second round marathon at the French Open recently.

Despite winning 13 titles, Rublev has yet to capture a grass-court crown.

Jannik Sinner came out on top in an all-Italian clash against Lorenzo Sonego to reach the quarter-finals.

Sinner, ranked at nine in the world, saved all eight break points he faced to clinch a tough 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-4 second-round triumph.Sinner will next face Alexander Bublik who reached the quarter-finals with a 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3 victory against Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Bublik hit 43 winners, including 23 aces as he reached his second quarter-final of the season.

SABALENKA, GAUFF CRASH OUT IN BERLIN

At the Berlin WTA tournament, top seed Aryna Sabalenka and US star Coco Gauff suffered setbacks in their Wimbledon build-ups when they slumped to second round losses.

World number two Sabalenka was defeated 6-2, 7-6 (7/2) by Veronika Kudermetova whose Russian compatriot Ekaterina Alexandrova saw off seventh-ranked Gauff 6-4, 6-0.

Alexandrova and Kudermetova will meet in quarter-finals late on Friday, just five days after they fought out the final in ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Kudermetova had also defeated Sabalenka at the same stage in Berlin 12 months ago in three sets.

World number 13 Kudermetova broke her Belarusian opponent three times in her 99-minute victory.

Alexandrova, ranked at 22, successfully defended her ‘s-Hertogenbosch title in a dramatic three-set triumph over Kudermetova on Sunday.

Her win over Gauff avenged her loss to the American teenager from two match points up in their only previous meeting at Dubai in 2021.

After falling behind 3-1 in the first set, the 28-year-old Russian won 11 of the last 12 games to reach the Berlin quarter-finals for the second time in her career.

“Grass is not my favorite surface, but somehow I’m managing to play so well on it,” said Alexandrova.

“And maybe the score looks easy, but it’s never like that because she played amazing. I needed to stay focused during every single point to keep it that way. I’m just hoping I can keep this form as long as I can.”

Meanwhile, Greek sixth seed Maria Sakkari breezed past Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus 6-2, 6-1 while Marketa Vondrousova also made the last eight when German opponent Jule Niemeier retired with injury from their second round clash.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2023