Miomir Kecmanovic and Hubert Hurkacz continue to make big statements on the ATP tour as they reach the quarter-finals at Indian Wells.
Serbian lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic wouldn’t have thought he would reach the quarter-finals of a masters 1000 event anytime soon last week. The 19 year-old lost a last set tiebreak to Marcus Giron in final round qualifying and was preparing to reset his season.
But after Kevin Anderson withdrew, Kecmanovic’s luck was in and he has taken the opportunity with both hands after reaching the last eight. Despite Yoshihito Nishioka retiring after one set in their fourth round encounter, there is no doubt that the Serb has deserved his success.
In the aftermath of his success, Kecmanovic seemed stunned and happy at his week so far, “I’m really happy about it, especially since I didn’t really do anything before this,” the Serb explained in his press conference.
“Yeah, it’s, you know, funny that at these big events to have two, three wins and, like, you’re already there. You know, so it’s very lucky. So, yeah, I’m happy that I used this opportunity that I got.”
The IMG graduate also has a wildcard into the Miami Masters next week, in what is turning into a career-defining week for Kecmanovic. A place in the semi-finals is up for grabs when he plays Milos Raonic tomorrow.
Meanwhile another player who is having an amazing couple of weeks is 22 year-old Pole Hubert Hurkacz. This time last year Hurkacz was outside the top 200 and struggling to find consistent form on the challenger circuit.
Now he has reached two ATP quarter-finals in a row, first in Dubai where he defeated Kei Nishikori to earn his first top 10 win. Then he beat Nishikori again in California and edged past Denis Shapovalov today 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 to reach his first quarter-final at masters 1000 level.
After basing his game off Andy Murray, the tall player from Wroclaw is on the verge of the top 50 and will play Roger Federer in the biggest match of his career on Friday.
