The field for the 2021 ATP Finals is set. Hubert Hurkacz has earned the final spot at the season finale, to be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from November 14-21.
The 24-year-old is the second Polish player to earn a spot at the event in tournament history (after 1976 runner-up Wojtek Fibak) and will make his debut following a standout season in which he reached a career-high No. 10 in the ATP Rankings and captured three ATP Tour trophies.
"It feels incredible. Obviously going to Turin is a dream," Hurkacz said as per nittoatpfinals.com. "Growing up as a kid, seeing all those top guys playing in the Finals, it's inspiring. Now being among them, it's very special because it's just eight spots there, so it's not that easy to get there."
Hurkacz clinched his spot by defeating James Duckworth in three sets to reach the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals. He said that he had been getting strong support from his countrymen in the weeks leading up to this moment.
"I'm getting so much support, especially from other athletes... I'm privileged to be in this position, and I hope I am making Poland a little proud," Hurkacz said in a post-match interview on Tennis Channel. "Interest [in tennis] is growing in Poland also with Iga [Swiatek], who is in the WTA Finals, so it's amazing to have both players at the high level. Hopefully we will have a lot more guys and girls join the top soon."
Hurkacz joins four former ATP Finals champions: Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Alexander Zverev, plus Andrey Rublev, home favourite Matteo Berrettini and fellow first-time qualifier Casper Ruud in the Turin field. The average age of this year's player field (26) is the youngest at the season finale since 2009 (25).
( With inputs from ANI )
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor