Hubert Hurkacz showed one of the best efforts to revive himself in the 2023 season when he fell at the Miami Open.
The eighth seed had to save five match point opportunities en route to claiming a 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 victory over Australian tennis player Thanasi Kokkinakis in the second round of the Miami Open.
The Polish national saved three match point chances in the second set tiebreak and two more in the third set tiebreaker, before finally finding a way to win after 3 hours 31 minutes, making the match one of the longest three-setter matches in the ATP tournament in season 2023.
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“It’s hard for me to explain. I know I played a good game. I mean, Thanasi played well too,” said Hurkacz.
“I was just trying to hang on and compete, play some good shots. It doesn’t matter if I win or lose, of course I want to win, but I should be happy with myself.”
The eighth seed secured the first three match chances at 4/6, 5/6, and 6/7 in the second set tiebreak. He then fired an ace to secure a fifth match point opportunity. He didn’t waste the opportunity to win the match through the first match point opportunity, namely showing a solid defense to provoke Kokkinakis to make a mistake.
“Stealing a few points puts a little more pressure on the opponent, then sometimes the opponent will try to do a little more and you can miss the shot,” said Hubert Hurkacz.
“I try to compete for every ball and apply more pressure.”
The previous longest three-setter of the 2023 season lasted 3 hours and 26 minutes as Tommy Paul beat Taylor Fritz in Acapulco and Bernabe Zapata Miralles crushed Roberto Carballes Baena in Cordoba.
In the third round of the Miami Open, Hurkacz will face French veteran Adrian Mannarino who knocked out 32nd seed Ben Shelton 6-4 3-6 6-1.
In the draw of the same match, Christopher Eubanks and Gregoire Barrere managed to silence the top seeds to meet in the third round of the Miami Open.
The home tennis player, Eubanks managed to eliminate the 17th seed, Borna Coric with 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, while the French national, Barrere eliminated the 11th seed, Cameron Norrie with a convincing result 6-3, 6-2.
