Hubert Hurkacz is the first Pole to win a men’s singles Masters 1000 title; the 24-year-old beat Denis Kudla, Denis Shapovalov, Milos Raonic, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Andrey Rublev, and now Jannik Sinner while in transit to a stunning tournament victory
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz made it an perfect 10-0 in Florida as he added his lady Masters 1000 title at the Miami Open with triumph over teenager Jannik Sinner to the Delray Beach Open crown he won in January.
Hurkacz, the first Polish singles player to win one of the ATP’s high degree of occasions, proceeded with his brilliant week by beating 19-year-old Italian Sinner 7-6 (7-4) 6-4.
“Last year I spent here almost half a year,” Hurkacz said in an on-court interview. “I was practising in the hottest weather during the spring and summer here, so I think that helped me a lot playing now in Florida, especially in these pretty tough conditions here, because it was a little bit slow here. The wind was blowing from side to side sometimes, so it’s huge.”
With Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer all skipping the tournament, the stage was set for a surprising champion, thus it proved.
Hurkacz made the beginning, winning the first three games, yet Sinner reacted with a run of three rounds of his own to draw level.
The prodigiously talented teenager was the most youthful Masters finalist since Rafael Nadal and, subsequent to withstanding more pressing factor from Hurkacz, he broke the Pole’s serve at 5-5.
He couldn’t serve out the set, however, and it was Hurkacz who stepped up to take it on a tie-break.
The Pole was flawless at the start of the second set, rolling out four games in succession, yet he became a little tight in sight of the end goal and Sinner tore his way back to 3-4.
Hubi with consecutive Florida titles
By defeating Jannik Sinner at the Miami Open Hubert Hurkacz at No 37 turns into the most minimal positioned player to win an ATP Tour Masters 1000 competition since Tomas Berdych at the 2005 Paris Masters.
The teenager was looking fatigued, however, and Hurkacz figured out how to keep his nerves under control to make it across the finish line.
“The balls felt slow when I went to serve,” Hurkacz said of the final game. “Obviously a tough point. You really want to get a couple of free points and Jannik’s an amazing returner. It was a tough game.”
Hurkacz will move from 37 on the world rankings to a vocation high of 16 on Monday, while Sinner will climb nine spots to No 22.
