Hubert Hurkacz fended off a match point in the third-set tiebreak to defeat Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (8) and win the Shanghai Masters on Sunday in China.
It’s the seventh tour title for Poland’s Hurkacz and his second ATP Masters 1000 win.
Hurkacz finally ended the two-hour, nine-minute match on his fourth match point.
“It was such a battle,” Hurkacz said. “Especially emotionally. I had a match point and Andrey hit an amazing serve and then he had a match point and then I had some match points. It was back and forth and such a tricky match. Andrey was playing some great shots. I was trying to respond. It was one of those matches and I kept believing and I am super happy with how I managed at the end.
“It is such a big tournament and so much tradition. It is a huge event and I am really happy now.”
On his way to the win, Hurkacz boomed 21 aces and won 81 percent of his first-serve points. He hit 44 winners against seven unforced errors.
But Rublev was up to the task. Each player won 50 percent of the total points, and Rublev countered with 13 aces and won 76 percent of the points on his first serve. He tallied 42 aces and eight unforced errors.
The match could have gone the other way in the third-set tiebreak, when Rublev took a 5-2 lead. Hurkacz followed with back-to-back aces, and when Rublev committed an unforced error, the score was tied at 5-5. Hurkacz saved the match point at 6-5 before snatching the win.
Hurkacz moved to 3-2 in his career against Rublev, who was seeking his second Masters 1000 win. He now is 7-1 in tour finals.
–Field Level Media
