Hubert Hurkacz won the first round of the ATP 500 tournament against Marcos Giron and advanced to the second round. The Pole’s opponent in the quarterfinal match will be Jack Draper or qualifier Mattia Bellucci.
The gentlemen have faced off twice on professional courts so far, and our tennis player won both of these matches. Hubert defeated Marcos twice on grass at Wimbledon 2021 and this year in Halle. Our tennis player did not lose a single set in both matches. As for the tournament in Tokyo, the American definitely has better memories. Last year, Giron went through the qualifications and made it all the way to the semi-finals, where he had to admit the superiority of the eventual winner, Ben Shelton.
In the first set, the service of both tennis players was at a high level. In the third game, Giron had a break point and could have broken Hubert’s serve, but fortunately the Pole defended. When it seemed that we would have a tie-break, Hurkacz broke his opponent’s serve with only a point to lose and using the first set point, ended the set. Hubi served eight aces in this set and had a total of 13 winners.
In the fourth game of the second set, Hubert broke Marcos and took the lead 3:1. Unfortunately, a moment later, the American broke the Pole’s serve for the first time in the match, and he defended one break but not the second. This, plus winning his own service game, equalized the score at 3:3. Nothing much changed until the end of the set. Neither player had any more chances to change the result by breaking their opponent’s serve. This resulted in a tie-break deciding the result of the set.
The additional game was started better by 30-year-old Giron. The American won a mini break and took the lead 3-1. However, Hubert quickly made up for the loss. From that moment on, the game went point for point. Unfortunately, the ending did not go our tennis player’s way. Marcos won a set point, which he used when our tennis player sent the ball into the net.
Our tennis player started the decisive set brilliantly. Hubert broke Marcos’ serve in the first game, served brilliantly and took the lead 3:1. The American could have lost his serve for the second time in the third game, which would have been impossible to make up for, but unfortunately he saved both break points. The gentlemen watched their serves carefully until the end of the set. Both Hurkacz and Giron confidently won their service games. This meant that the advantage gained by Hubert in the initial part of the set was enough and it was the Pole who advanced after more than two hours of play.
– I am very happy about today’s match with Marcos Giron, I played a really good match. We had some time to train before this tournament, we prepared with Mateusz. We are still looking for a new person to join the team. I also managed to serve a few aces in this match – for each ace I donate 100 euros to the flood victims. I also wanted to thank you all for your incredible support for the flood victims. It is really amazing how Poles come together in difficult situations and greetings to everyone – said the Wrocław player after the match [źródło: HH Team].
Results
Singles round 1
Hubert Hurkacz (Poland, 2) – Marcos Giron (USA) 6:4, 6:7(5), 6:4
