Hubert Hurkacz has boosted his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals next month after booking his place in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Wednesday.
The world No.17 overcame an early blip to beat Hungarian underdog Fabian Marozsan 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the third round. Hurkacz fired a total of 18 aces and won 82% of his first service points during the match. It is the 21st time this season he has won a match by prevailing in the deciding set which is more than any other player on the ATP Tour.
“I’m definitely really pleased with my performance,” Hurkacz said during his press conference. “We’ve (my team) been putting a lot of effort into my preparation and every single match has been really challenging and tricky. Fortunately, I was able to come through those challenges.”
It is the second consecutive Masters tournament that the Pole has reached the semi-final stage after Cincinnati in August. Something which he has never previously achieved in his career. It is also the first time he has reached the last four in Shanghai in what is his fourth main draw appearance.
The surge in momentum comes after what has been a steady start to the year in Masters 1000 tournaments. In the first six Hurkacz played, he didn’t go beyond the third round at any of them. His only title triumph so far in 2023 occurred at a 250 event in Marseille back in February.
“In the past years, I was doing pretty decent in those events (Masters 1000’s). This year, I was struggling and I was losing quite early in all of them.” He reflected.
“I played some very good tennis in Cincinnati, and now here (in Shanghai).’
“It’s only the best players that are playing here, and the competition is really strong. You got to perform really great to be in it.”
Shanghai is the latest Masters event to be expanded into a 12-day tournament which the ATP says benefits their players both mentally and physically. Something that has come in handy for Hurkacz who has a day of rest following his third round match against Zhang Zhizhen that lasted more than two-and-a-half hours.
“There is plenty of time to rest in between the matches and I think in those matches I was also really pushed mentally. I was trying to battle for a lot of things,” he commented.
Hurkacz is currently 15th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. He is 975 points behind Holger Rune who is sitting in the eighth and final qualifying spot. However, the gap will be shrunk to 335 points if he wins the title this week.
