Hurkacz wins Shanghai Masters

Chinese tennis player Hubert Hurkacz won the second Masters of his career, defeating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8) in the ATP 1000 final in Shanghai on October 15.

Against a powerful opponent, serving was key to Hurkacz’s title. The Polish player had 21 aces in the match, won 81% of first points, saved match point in the third-set tiebreak before taking the opportunity to win the fourth. After two hours and nine minutes, he defeated Rublev to win his second Masters title, after the 2021 Miami Open.

Hurkacz celebrates his seventh ATP title in his career. Photo: Reuters — Hurkacz celebrates his seventh ATP title in his career. Photo: *Reuters*

There were few chances to win the serve in the final for either side, which meant every mistake cost the set. Rublev lost his serve game at 2-3 in the first set, leading to a 3-6 loss. It was also his first set loss of the tournament. In the second set, Hurkacz lost his serve game early and could not come back, losing 3-6 in a set in which Rublev hit 16 winners.

Both played with great concentration in the third set and dragged each other into a tie-break. There, Rublev won the mini-break first, but then made consecutive mistakes that led to losing his composure and losing 8-10. The Russian missed the chance to win his second Masters of the year, as well as of his career.

Hurkacz has won seven of his eight ATP Tour finals. The Polish player has renewed his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals, finishing just 335 points behind eighth-place Holger Rune. Hurkacz has only qualified for the eight-player tournament once in his career, in 2021.

Hurkacz earned an additional $1.26 million by winning the Shanghai Masters, which returned to the ATP Tour for the first time in four years. Hurkacz will move up to No. 11 in the ATP rankings next week. The 26-year-old's best ranking was No. 9 in 2021 , the year he reached the Wimbledon semi-finals after beating Roger Federer.

Vy Anh

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