World No 1 Daniil Medvedev lost his second straight ATP grass-court final when he was brushed aside by Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in Halle on Sunday.
Medvedev had few answers as he crashed to defeat inside 64 minutes as Hurkacz offered no respite in a 6-1, 6-4 victory.
This was a second consecutive heavy defeat in a final for the Russian who also lost in straight sets to Tim van Rijthoven last Sunday at ‘s-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.
Hurkacz earned the fifth title of his career, but his first on grass having also reached the semifinals of Wimbledon last year.
On his way to the final in Halle, the 25-year-old saw off Australian firebrand Nick Kyrgios in three sets before outclassing Medvedev.
A protestor briefly held up play on Sunday by sprinting onto the court before being escorted out of the stadium by security guards.
Meanwhile, Beatriz Haddad Maia defeated former Wimbledon champion Simona Halep at the Birmingham WTA tournament on Sunday to reach her second final in a week.
The Brazilian, who won the Nottingham Open title on June 12, prevailed 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in a hard-fought encounter.
Hadda Maia will play Zhang Shuai in the final after the Chinese player came from behind to defeat Halep’s fellow Romanian Sorana Cirstea 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7/5) in this Wimbledon warm-up event.
Haddad Maia and Zhang won the doubles title together in Nottingham, also in the English Midlands, but will face each other in the final later on Sunday after rain meant no play was possible on Saturday.
The 26-year-old Haddad Maia needed a gruelling two hours and 16 minutes to see off 2019 Wimbledon champion Halep.
She twice came back from a break down in the opening set before reeling off four games in a row to end the contest and extend her winning streak to nine matches.
Halep, who did not defend her Wimbledon title last year (the 2020 edition was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic) after injuring her calf, suffered two heavy falls during the first set and twice received treatment on her right thigh.
But she recovered to win the second set, with a superb backhand allowing her to break the serve of Haddad Maia.
The third set was a closer contest, with both players squandering a break before Haddad Maia edged ahead.
Zhang, who will also play in the Birmingham doubles final alongside Elise Mertens, came from a break down in the final set.
Cirstea was also 5-4 ahead in the ensuing tie-break before Zhang won three points in a row to book her place in the final
