Sinner wins first match after French Open final defeat

World No 1 Jannik Sinner rebounded from his agonising French Open final defeat to Carlos Alcaraz with a straight-sets win at the Halle Open on Tuesday.

The 23-year-old beat Germany's Yannick Hanfmann 7-5, 6-3 on the Halle grass, just over a week after his five hour and 29 minute loss to Alcaraz at Roland Garros.

Sinner broke in the final game of the first set and once more in the second to secure victory over the 138th-ranked Hanfmann.

Signed, sealed, delivered ✉️@janniksin defeats Hanfmann 7-5 6-3 to get his Halle title defence underway#TWO25 pic.twitter.com/63FaVrYfqc

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) June 17, 2025

"I'm very happy about my performance," Sinner said on court after the victory.

"The first set could have gone into a tie-break and then anything can happen.

"First matches are never easy on grass -- and also second and third matches -- so let's see what's coming in the next round."

Sinner, who won last year's tournament, will take on 2023 Halle champion Alexander Bublik in the last 16 on Wednesday.

Coming into the Wimbledon warm-up event, Sinner admitted to having "a few sleepless nights" after his five-set French Open loss to Alcaraz.

World No 3 Alexander Zverev, a two-time finalist at Halle, starts his campaign against American Marcos Giron on Wednesday.

Third seed Daniil Medvedev, the runner-up in 2022, takes on Quentin Halys.