Berrettini defends Queen’s crown by beating Krajinovic

Matteo Berrettini has defended his cinch Championships title at Queen’s Club by beating Filip Krajinovic in straight sets.

The Italian, runner-up at Wimbledon last year to Novak Djokovic, beat another Serbian, surprise package Krajinovic, 7-5 6-4 to win the title for the second year running.

In doing so, Berrettini joined some illustrious names; John McEnroe, Jimmy Connors, Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Lleyton Hewitt, Andy Roddick and Andy Murray, as the only players to successfully retain the Queen’s Club crown.

The world number 10 has been invincible this grass-court season with back-to-back titles, having beaten Andy Murray in Stuttgart last weekend.

Berrettini had too much firepower for unseeded Krajinovic, who has now lost all five of his Tour-level finals.

Berrettini, who claimed the title in Stuttgart this month, has now won 20 of his last 21 matches on grass, his only loss coming in last year’s Wimbledon final.

He was made to work hard by Krajinovic who broke back in the first set, only to get broken again at 5-5.

A Krajinovic double-fault proved costly at 2-3 in the second set as Berrettini secured the decisive break of serve and went on to secure his seventh career title.

Berrettini said: “There are too many emotions. The last thing I expected after surgery was two titles in a row and to defend my title here. I just cannot believe it.

“Every time I walk in the hallways here and see all the names of the champions from the past, and now knowing it’s me, twice, on the same wall gives me goosebumps.”

Krajinovic’s unlikely run to the final will earn him enough ranking points to be among the seeds at Wimbledon, where he has suffered four first-round exits.

He said: “It was an amazing last 10 days, very emotional to be in my first final on grass.

“Just before this tournament I never won a match on grass and I hated playing on grass. But I feel now I want to play more and more. For sure I’m going to play here next year.”

Hurkacz stuns Medvedev to clinch Halle title

Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz also showed his Wimbledon credentials on Sunday, thrashing world No 1 Daniil Medvedev 6-1 6-4 to win the ATP 500 grasscourt tournament in Halle.

World No 12 Hurkacz defeated Medvedev and Roger Federer en route to the semi-finals at Wimbledon last year and showed he will once again be a force to reckon with when the Championships kick off on June 27.

Halle is the 25-year-old’s fifth ATP singles title, and he kept his record in finals so far unblemished with his victory in just over an hour when he converted his second match point with a backhand volley.

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 at last year’s US Open final and winning a maiden major.

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. 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 trailing 5-1 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 breakpoints to hold serve in the seventh game to stay close to Hurkacz, but he could not get the break back against his opponent, who did not allow the Russian a single opportunity on his own delivery during the entire match.

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