It has become popular in recent months that Hubert Hurkacz specializes in fast surfaces (hard and turf). No wonder – it was on these stadiums that he scored the highest score the previous year consequences. He reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon, his best Grand Slam result in his career to date. In the spring of 2021, he triumphed on the hard surfaces at the prestigious event in Miami. Two weeks ago he was about to repeat that result, this time reaching the semi-finals in Florida.
Precious victories
Hurkacz looked very different on clay. In the entire previous season, the Polish won only one match on this roof – it was a duel with Italian Thomas Fabiano in the first round in Monte Carlo. In the first round, he ended up competing in Madrid, Rome and Roland Garros. He later explained that he had contracted an infection in the spring of 2021, but it was difficult to shake the impression that the tennis player’s style of play from Wroclaw was more suited to fast surfaces.
This year in Monaco, Hurkacz is showing unexpectedly well. He has already won three matches, and is in the quarter-finals. He defeated Bolivian Hugo Delane 7:5, 6:4 and Spaniards Pedro Martinez 6:3, 4:6, 6:4 and Albert Ramos Vinolas 7:6, 6:2 on the way. These results are valuable given that all three are clay-court specialists – the so-called “potato”. Hurkacz collects more victories over such competitors.
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The pole’s performance this week in Monte Carlo is exceptional. By winning three games, he’s already racked up more wins on the brick deck than in the entire previous year. For the first time in his career, he reached the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 tournament played on the ground. Experts and fans were surprised by the results of the Polish league this week.
Perhaps it will be useful to Hurkacz that he knows the conditions in Monte Carlo well, since he lives in Monaco (or rather, he has a rule – in the case of tennis players who travel around the world for a year, it is difficult to speak of a classic place of residence). On Friday, his next opponent will be Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. The meeting will start around 1 pm Poland time.
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chance for promotion
If the Pole keeps his fitness on the floor in the following weeks, he may be promoted to Wimbledon in the ATP rankings. Today he is 14 on the list of the best tennis players in the world. However, he is barely defending any points for the Grand Slam tournament, which will start in London at the end of June. Each subsequent victory of Hurkacz over the meal gives him hope that he will receive points that will allow him to rise in the rankings, and this may give him a good position to fight in the Grand Slam tournament held in the capital of Great Britain.
