The TERRA WORTMANN OPEN has not proven a happy hunting ground for defending champions over the years. In the 32-year history of the Halle ATP 500, only two players have managed to win consecutive titles. This year at OWL Arena, the No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings Jannik Sinner will attempt to make it three.
The first player to go back-to-back in Halle was one of the most consistent performers in tournament history. Yevgeny Kafelnikov fell just short of lifting the trophy in 1996, when he fell to Nicklas Kulti in the championship match, but responded by marching to the title in 1997 and 1998.
In his 1997 run, Kafelnikov knocked out three home favourites in a row — Nicolas Kiefer, Michael Stich and Boris Becker — to reach the final. He then saved three championship points before edging Petr Korda 7:6(2), 6:7(5), 7:6(7) in a hard-fought title match. One year later he dropped just two sets en route to defending his crown, beating Swedes Magnus Norman, Thomas Johansson and Magnus Larsson to cap his run.
Already the only two-time champion in Halle, Kafelnikov went on to add a third Halle crown in 2002. He finished his career with a 30-6 record at the grass-court event, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. Kafelnikov, who spent six weeks of 1999 as No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, was the first of the four members of the ATP No. 1 Club (also Lleyton Hewitt, Roger Federer and Sinner) that have won in Halle.
Kafelnikov’s final Halle appearance came in 2003, the same year that a new era began at the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. Swiss star Roger Federer defeated home hope Kiefer in the final to lift the first of his record 10 titles in Halle, kick-starting a dream grass-court season that ended with his maiden Grand Slam trophy at Wimbledon.
After matching Kefelnikov by successfully defending his title in 2004 (a year in which he competed in Halle as World No. 1 for the first time and did not drop a set all week), Federer made it four consecutive triumphs by reeling off further victories in 2005 and 2006. That remains the longest title-winning streak in Halle history.
Federer did not play in the 2007 edition of the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN, but the fan favourite returned to win the title in 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2019. In four of his 10 triumphs, the Swiss was competing as the World No. 1.
“With Halle, we go way back,” reflected the by-then-retired Federer in 2023, when he returned to OWL Arena as a guest of honour at the tournament’s 30th anniversary celebrations. “I don’t know the first time I ever came here, maybe 22 years ago, and I played 18 years in those years. More than just a partnership, it’s also become a friendship over the years with the Weber family, first Gerhard Weber and then Ralf, who is now the tournament director. So it’s been a wonderful time, obviously also [I had] a lot of success here.”
This year, Sinner arrives at the event where he made his debut as World No. 1 a year ago aiming to join Kafelnikov and Federer as a successful defending champion, and become just the fourth multiple titlist in Halle history (home favourite Tommy Haas also triumphed more than once, in 2009 and 2012).
Still atop the PIF ATP Rankings, Sinner stands in good shape ahead of his latest Halle campaign. The 23-year-old is 18-2 for 2025, including a third major title run at January’s Australian Open, and he is also bidding to build further on his grass-court game after he notched a personal-best nine wins on the surface in 2024.
Sinner, who defeated 2022 titlist Hubert Hurkacz in last year’s final to claim his maiden grass-court crown, is not the only player in the draw aiming to claim a second Halle title, however. The 2023 champion Alexander Bublik is a potential second-round opponent for the Italian, while 2021 winner Ugo Humbert will also compete this week.
This story is courtesy of ATPTour.com
