Defending champion Hurkacz out of Halle Open, Rublev and Sinner advance

HALLE, Germany (AP) — Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner reached the quarterfinals of the Halle Open on Thursday as defending champion Hubert Hurkacz was eliminated after a dramatic final-set tiebreaker.

Rublev won his second-round match against German wild card Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (6), 6-3 after turning around a 5-3 deficit in the first-set tiebreaker. Rublev lost to Hanfmann in Rome last month.

“The last time he beat me and he’s playing better and better,” Rublev said. “Especially on grass, he’s even tougher to play against because he has such a good serve and a good game at the net. I was able to win the match in two sets so I’m really happy.”

Rublev next faces Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutch player upset Hurkacz 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (8). Griekspoor converted his fifth match point for the win after saving a match point at 8-7 down. Griekspoor is coming off his second title of the season at the Libema Open.

Sinner needed nearly three hours to win 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4 against fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego to reach his ninth quarterfinal of 2023. Sinner saved all eight of the break points he faced against his friend as they played under a closed roof because of storms in the area.

That earned the fourth-seeded Sinner a quarterfinal match against Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, who won 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-3 against Jan-Lennard Struff, who was coming off a runner-up result in Stuttgart.

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