World number one Jannik Sinner bounced back from his heartbreaking defeat in the French Open final against Carlos Alcaraz with a straight-sets win at the Halle Open on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old overcame Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-3 on the Halle grass, just over a week after his gruelling five-hour and 29-minute loss to Alcaraz at Roland Garros.
Sinner secured the win with a break in the final game of the first set and another in the second against the 138th-ranked Hanfmann.
Sinner, the defending champion, will face 2023 Halle champion Alexander Bublik in the round of 16 on Wednesday.
Before the Wimbledon warm-up event, Sinner confessed to experiencing “a few sleepless nights” following his five-set defeat to Alcaraz at the French Open.
World number three Alexander Zverev, a two-time finalist at Halle, will begin his campaign against American Marcos Giron on Wednesday.
Third seed Daniil Medvedev, last year’s runner-up, is scheduled to compete against Quentin Halys.
