After his breakthrough run at the Wimbledon Championships Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz is hoping it will set him on a good footing heading into the Olympics.
The world No.18 lost to Matteo Berrettini in the semi-finals of the Grand Slam in what was his best ever run at a major. Hurkacz is only the second Polish man in history to have reached the last four at Wimbledon after Jerzy Janowicz back in 2013. In the draw this year he became the first player to bagel Roger Federer since 2002.
However, the Pole had no such luck against Berrettini who is now on a 11-match winning streak. During part of their clash it was evident that nerves started to hinder him as he lost 11 games in a row at one stage. Hurkacz managed to regroup and take a set off the Italian but it wasn’t enough to deny him the victory.
“Playing in front of this amazing crowd, this is such a pleasure. I enjoy playing, especially the semifinal, super big match. So I am super happy to experience that,” he said.
“Matteo played an unbelievable match today. Every single service game, he was serving bombs. I didn’t have many chances, probably zero. So huge congrats to him that he kept such a high level throughout the whole four sets.”
Hurkacz admits his patchy play was due to the pressure Berrettini was applying onto him. It was the third time the two have faced each other and the second at a Grand Slam. They also clashed at the 2018 Australian Open in the qualifying round which Berrettini also won.
Despite his defeat, the 24-year-old is upbeat and hoping he will be able to continue his momentum on the Tour. Later this month he will head to Tokyo and play in the Olympic Games regardless of the decision to hold the event behind closed doors due to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Nick Kyrgios has become the first athlete to formally pull out of the event as a result of the decision to ban fans.
“I didn’t hear about it, that there’s no crowd. I’m super happy to be representing my country in the Olympics. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
Hurkacz is projected to rise to a ranking high of 11th when standings are updated next Monday. Just three months after he broke into the world’s top 20 for the first time in his career.
