Shanghai [China], October 12 : Hubert Hurkacz held his nerve in the face of an early onslaught from Fabian Marozsan to advance to the Shanghai Masters semifinals on Thursday.
The 16th-seeded Pole won 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, putting an end to Marozsan's fantasy run at the ATP Masters 1000 event. After surrendering his service twice in the first set as his Hungarian opponent made inroads with clean baseline hitting off both wings, Hurkacz dialled in behind his delivery and dropped only nine points on serve in the second and third sets for a one-hour, 43-minute victory.
"He came with some really great shots, and I just needed to stay positive and keep committing to the gameplan. To be aggressive, because if I dropped anything short he was just taking advantage of it and coming with some really incredible shots. I knew I had to stay on point today," Hurkacz was quoted as saying by ATP.
Hurkacz converted five of his 11 break points in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head match against Hungary's Marozsan, who had upset Alex de Minaur and Casper Ruud on his way to his first Masters 1000 quarter-final. Hurkacz, a six-time ATP Tour champion, won 39 games, including 18 aces, to improve to 6-5 in the Masters 1000 quarter-finals.
Thursday's comeback victory might also pave the way for the Pole to make a late push for ATP Finals qualification. Hurkacz, 26, is presently ranked 15th in the ATP Live Race To Turin, having made his first participation at the coveted season finals in 2021. He is 975 points behind eighth-placed Holger Rune, but if he wins the trophy in Shanghai, he may cut the gap to 335 points.
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