World No. 1 Jannik Sinner made a winning return to the court on Tuesday, defeating Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Halle Open, just over a week after his gruelling French Open final loss to Carlos Alcaraz.
Playing his first match since that five-hour, 29-minute marathon in Paris, Sinner secured victory by breaking Hanfmann’s serve late in each set on the Halle grass.
“I’m very happy with my performance,” the 23-year-old said. “The first set could have gone to a tie-break, and anything can happen there. First matches on grass are always tricky—sometimes the second and third are too—so we’ll see what’s next.”
Sinner, last year’s Halle runner-up, will face 2023 champion Alexander Bublik in the round of 16 on Thursday. The two recently met in the Roland Garros quarter-finals, where Sinner prevailed in three sets.
Reflecting on his tough loss to Alcaraz in Paris, Sinner admitted he had endured “a few sleepless nights” but was ready to shift focus to the grass-court season.
Elsewhere at Halle, world No. 3 and two-time finalist Alexander Zverev opens his campaign against American Marcos Giron on Wednesday, while third seed Daniil Medvedev, the 2022 runner-up, faces France’s Quentin Halys.
