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 served 21 aces in the match, won 81% of first-round points, saved match points in the third-set tiebreak before taking advantage of the opportunity to win the fourth. After two hours and nine minutes, he defeated Rublev to win his second Masters title, following 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 service games for either side in the final, which meant that every mistake cost the set. Rublev lost a service game at 2-3 in the first set, leading to a 3-6 defeat. It was also his first set loss of the tournament. In the second set, Hurkacz lost an early service game 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 reaching the ATP Finals, with the player now only 335 points behind eighth-place Holger Rune. Hurkacz has only played in the eight-player tournament of the year 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 rise 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, defeating Roger Federer.

Vy Anh

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