Medvedev loses second final in row after crushing Halle Open defeat to Hurkacz

World No 1 Daniil Medvedev lost his second straight ATP grass-court final when he was thrashed in straight sets by Poland's Hubert Hurkacz at the Halle Open on Sunday.

The Russian was brushed aside in 63 minutes in a 6-1, 6-4 a defeat that comes hot on the heels last week's straight sets loss to wild card Tim van Rijthoven at 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands.

World No 12 Hurkacz earned the fifth title of his career, but his first on grass having also reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon last year.

“Daniil is an unbelievable player,” said Hurkacz. “He’s the best player in the world so it’s very tricky to play him. All the right shots went my way at the beginning, so I definitely gained a lot of momentum from that.”

In contrast, it was a fifth straight defeat in a championship match for Medvedev, who has not won a title since denying Novak Djokovic the calendar Grand Slam to win the 2021 US Open for his maiden major triumph.

Medvedev, who will not be allowed to compete at Wimbledon due to its ban on Russian and Belarusian players, came into Sunday's match having not dropped a set while saving 22 of the 23 break points he faced during his four matches.

Hubert Hurkacz celebrates with the trophy after beating Daniil Medvedev in Halle Open final. AFP

But the Russian struggled to get his first serves in as Hurkacz jumped into a 5-0 lead in no time with two breaks of his opponent's delivery.

Medvedev finally held his serve at 1-5 before Hurkacz wrapped up the opening set in 27 minutes.

There was, however, no end to Medvedev's frustrations in the second set as the Pole once again broke serve early, continuing to dominate the rallies both from the back of the court and when he advanced to the net.

Medvedev saved two