Hubert Hurkacz saved a duo of match points against Andrey Rublev to capture his second Masters 1000 title in Shanghai.
The Polish world No.17 held his nerve to edge out Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8), in what was a roller-coaster encounter that lasted just over two hours. It is only the second time this season that Hurkacz has beaten a top-10 player after getting the better of Stefanos Tsitsipas in Cincinnati over the summer. In his latest match, he fired 21 aces past his opponent and only dropped serve once to become the first player from his country to win multiple Masters 1000 titles in singles since the category was introduced in 2009.
“It’s been such a battle, especially emotionally,” the new champion said afterwards. “On match point, Andrey hit an amazing serve and then I had some match points, so we were just going back and forward. It was just such a tricky match.”
“Andrey was playing some great shots. I was trying to respond with some good ones as well. It was just one of those matches where you just had to stay in it until the end.’
“I’m super happy with how I managed it at the end.”
Playing in his third Masters 1000 final at the age of 26, Hurkacz got off to a strong start by producing a dominant service display throughout the opening set. The Pole impressively won 20 out of his 25 service points played. Something that visibly frustrated a highly animated Rublev who vented his anger towards his camp in the crowd and appeared to have said ‘I give up’ after losing one point.
Hurkacz sealed his first break of the match in the sixth game after hitting a forehand winner past his opponent to move ahead 4-2. He then went on to seal the opener in just 32 minutes by hitting a blistering ace out wide.
Despite dropping a set for the first time in Shanghai this year, Rublev came back fighting in the second frame by winning three games in a row. Elevating the intensity of his shotmaking, the Russian fired 16 winners past Hurkacz to level up the match.
Heading into the decider, there was little to separate both players in their quest for Masters glory. Hurkacz faced a break point at 1-1 but managed to save it with an ace. The Pole then managed to work his way to his first match point under controversial circumstances whilst leading 5-4. A forehand passing shot flew past Rublev who said he was distracted by movement in the photographer area. Prompting the livid Russian to scream at that area of the court which resulted in him receiving a code violation. After that incident, Rublev saved the match point with an ace before holding for 5-5.
The rollercoaster tussle continued into what was a dramatic tiebreaker that saw constant changes in momentum. Rublev was the first to strike by storming to a 5-2 lead before Hurkacz clawed his way back to eventually level at 5-5. Two points later he saved a match point by producing his 20th ace in the final. Hurkacz then had another two match points of his own but failed to convert before finally prevailing after a Rublev forehand crashed into the net.
Hurkacz is the sixth player to have won the Shanghai title with past champions including Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer. Federer was among those in the stands watching this year’s final.
“It’s really cool,” Hurkacz commented on joining the list of champions. “Seeing Roger in the stands and healthy. He has so much success here (in Shanghai), winning it a couple of times. It’s such a big tournament with so much tradition throughout the year. It’s a huge event and I’m really happy today.”
As a result of his latest triumph, Hurkacz is closing in on a place in the Nitto ATP Finals in Milan next month. He now has 2775 points to his name which is just 335 points behind the last qualifying spot which is currently being held by Hogler Rune. He successfully qualified for the event in 2022 and was an alternate last year.
