Hurkacz halts Kyrgios in Montreal
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz has again proven too good for Australia’s Nick Kyrgios, taking the H2H to 2-0 after a 7-6(4), 6-7(5), 6-1 victory.
The pair had met earlier in 2022 on the grass in Halle when Hurkacz came from a set down to defeat Kyrgios at the semi-final stage.
This time on hard courts Kyrgios had a breakpoint in the fifth game of the opening set but wasn’t able to convert. Hurkacz then had a break point himself in the 8th game which the Australian saved with a forehand winner.
In the tiebreaker, it was the Pole that raced to a 4-1 lead, which was enough of a buffer to take the opening set.
Kyrgios held serve to start the second set and then he had three break points at 0-40 in the next game. Hurkacz would fight back to hold serve.
In the very next game, it was the Australian that had to fight off two break points.
The pattern continued with Hurkacz again fighting off break points which he did successfully. From there there wasn’t another break point in the set.
In the second set tiebreaker it was Kyrgios that held the slight advantage and he closed out the breaker 7-5.
In the final set Kyrgios was no match for the Pole and he easily took the final set 6-1.
“Nick has been playing some incredible tennis throughout the past weeks, so it is a pleasure playing against him,” Hurkacz said in his on-court interview. “I hope the fans enjoyed it as well, but I am happy with the result in the end.”
“I started really well. Nick was maybe a little bit injured, which might have hurt his serve. With both of us serving so well, that few per cent can make the difference,” Hurkacz added.