These are the favourites at the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN

Who will come out on top at Germany's biggest tournament? We present the most prominent names.

First and foremost, there are the players who have won the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN before. Two former winners are competing this year: the powerful Pole Hubert Hurkacz, who triumphed in 2022, and the Kazakh Alexander Bublik, who lifted the trophy last year in a complete surprise. Bublik is still in the top 20 of the world rankings and won the smaller tournament in Montpellier this year. However, he recently had to retire in the quarter-finals of the grass court tournament in Stuttgart due to a foot injury. But reliable predictions are hardly possible anyway with the unpredictable and unconventional Kazakh. Who had him on their radar in 2023?

Hurkacz's form is also good. He won his first title on clay in Estoril this year and remains in the top ten. Anyone who remembers his outstanding performance in the 2022 final against Daniil Medvedev knows what the Pole is capable of on grass.

Of course, the new number one in the tennis world, Jannik Sinner, is always one of the favourites. However, the South Tyrolean has never won a grass court tournament. But because he is constantly learning, he can certainly be expected to win the title in Halle this year. In 2023, he had to retire injured against the eventual winner Bublik.

For Germany's number one Alexander Zverev, the title in Halle is one of the goals he has not yet achieved. Grass is not his best surface, but he has shown several times in the OWL Arena how well he can play on the green surface. He reached the final in 2016 and 2017. If he can maintain his outstanding form from the French Open, he should have a say in the title.

The same applies to Daniil Medvedev, who reached the final in Halle in 2022. He doesn't feel as comfortable on grass as he does on hard court, for example, but has the necessary weapons to play well here too. However, he played his last final on the tour at the beginning of March, when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells. Medved's mate Andrey Rublev has already reached the final twice in Halle. That was in 2021 and 2023, both times losing to surprise winners - Ugo Humbert and Alexander Bublik. But this year, his way on the grass ended abruptly in round one against Marcos Giron.

Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas is also among the favourites, although he has never made it past the round of 16 in Halle. Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime was the first celebrity to fail, retiring injured against Dominik Koepfer om Monday.

That leaves one name that has disappeared from the headlines for a while but is a force on grass: the Italian Matteo Berrettini. It took him a while to regain his old strength after an injury in 2022. But he comes to the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN with two recommendations. He reached the final at Wimbledon in 2021 and has just reached the final in Stuttgart. He is more than an insider tip.

Or what has become a tradition in Halle will happen: a completely unexpected winner will end up cheering in front of the 11,000 spectators.