The first set was very even. Both tennis players had their opportunities to break the rival, but it did not happen in the end. Therefore, the match of the set was decided by the tie-break, which was full of emotions. The American already had two set balls, with the score 6: 5 and 7: 6, but Hurkacz defended himself twice, and then he started scoring himself. As a result, he won 9: 7 in the tie-break.
The American, after losing the set, did not keep his nerves in check and smashed the racket against the court. The judge had no choice but to punish Johnson with a warning. At the beginning of the second batch it was obvious that the last exchanges are still in the mind of the American.
Johnson made more and more simple mistakes, which was ruthlessly used by Hurkacz, breaking the rival’s service to 0. And although he later kept his own application with problems, he controlled the fate of the game to the end, probably winning the 6: 3 set and the whole game 7: 6 (7) , 6: 3, not allowing the opponent to dictate the conditions of the game even for a moment.
Hurkacz can repeat the best result in Indian Wells
Thus, he was already promoted to the 1/8 finals. And he is one step away from repeating the success of 2019 and 2021 when he played twice in the quarter-finals of this tournament. However, the Pole has a very difficult task – his rival in the fight for the quarter-finals will be Andrei Rublev, the 7th player in the ATP ranking.
So far, Hurkacz has played with Rublev three times. The Pole was twice as good, but at the end of February this year their duel in Dubai was won by Rublev 3: 6, 7: 5, 7: 6 (5). Their meeting will be held Wednesday to Thursday night. The beginning is scheduled for midnight Polish time.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
