‘This is huge,’ Hurkacz stuns Rublev to reach first ATP Masters 1000 final
Hubert Hurkacz continued his remarkable run in Miami to move one step closer to his first ATP Masters 1000 title.
After ousting Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-final, the 24-year-old toppled fourth seed Andrey Rublev in straight sets 6-3, 6-4 to book a place in Sunday’s final.
The 26th seed played Rublev at his own game, unleashing his powerful forehand from the baseline to unsettle the Russian, as well as regular forays to the net and changes of direction with his backhand.
The Pole hit a total of 25 winners and broke the Rublev serve on three occasions in an hour and 28 minutes to reach the biggest final of his career.
“It means a lot, especially after winning a title at the beginning of the year, I had a couple of rough matches,” Hurkacz said in his on-court interview.
“I’m so happy that I came over and I was still trying to improve my game and trying to be a better player. This is really huge for me.”
The fast-rising Pole has looked very dangerous in Florida, where he lives and trains part-time, after already winning his second ATP Tour trophy at the Delray Beach Open earlier this year.
Hurkacz can make it ten victories in a row in Florida with victory over 21st seed and doubles partner Jannik Sinner in the championship match.
Sinner & Hurkacz were doubles partners in Dubai.
Now they’ll face off in the biggest final of their careers to date at the #MiamiOpen. pic.twitter.com/0sKjZVsjqG
— ATP Tour (@atptour) April 3, 2021
Hurkacz said: “We played doubles together last week in Dubai, now we’re playing in the final of a Masters 1000 event so it’s going to be a fun match.”
His meeting with Sinner will be the first encounter between the pair, with Sinner bidding to join an elite list of players to win the Miami singles final as a teenager.
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