Hubert Hurkacz won the match of the day against Jack Draper in three sets (6-3, 6-7(3), 7-5) in their duel for the second round of the Monte Carlo Masters 1000 tournament. Poland is Schwartzman’s or Sinner’s competitor in the next case.
tournament bracket
tournament results
An interesting duel of styles at the end of the day in Monte Carlo. Hubert Hurkacz he wanted to recover his feelings after the painful exit in Estoril and had to face last year’s quarter-finals here in order not to lose his positions in the rankings. Poland came by beating Serbia’s Laslo Djere in a big fight in the first round. For him Jack Draper He arrived without much expectation as he had almost no experience on clay, but still looked to surprise after beating Sebastián Báez on his debut.
Only the previous clash between these two Hurkacz leads the record 1-0. The only duel took place in the second round of ATP Antwerp 2022, where the Pole won in three sets.
Hurkacz batted first, Draper recovered
Hurkacz started the game clearly dominating against an opponent who was too quick to find the lines and who couldn’t find the rhythm. Poland, who were also very solid on their serve, took advantage of those doubts to make two consecutive breaks and get a 5-0 advantage on the scoreboard. Little by little, a better version of Draper began to emerge, encouraging himself to pass a few more balls that would give him the result of one break recovery. Even so, Hubi took the first set 6-3.
A slight improvement from the Brit at the end of the previous set would return even more decisively at the start of the second set, with Jack himself adding another break to now start 3-0. The left-hander’s good feelings also created the most unstable moment for Hurkacz, who had to save four more break points to avoid a double break. On the contrary, the Pole got the break back in the very next game and stayed very close to the scoreboard. With no more breaks, everything had to go to a decisive tiebreak. AND in that semi-final, Draper managed to get a real advantage, diving heavily into his opponent’s backhand to pull ahead 7-3.
one last battle
It was very even at the start of the deciding set, with the two players well aware of what was at stake. Both faces showed excitement, without any signs of frustration or nervousness.. On the first break point of the set, Draper committed a fatal double fault, giving Pole a 4-2 lead that seemed decisive. However, the Brit had to quickly recover the break, be brave and push forward, including earning the longest point of the match, hitting a total of 37 shots.
Now it was a real battle, serve by serve and with several rallies. Everything was in place to reach another semifinal, and even more so when Draper served 5-6, 40-0. But the left-hander kept making mistakes, and Hubi stopped making mistakes, especially with that swinging right. After winning five points in a row and finishing with a volley, Poland sealed the victory with a tight 7-5 final.
