'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Top seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain beat 15th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 3-6, 7-6, 7-6 in a thrilling third-round match of the Canadian Open in Toronto on Thursday, August 10. The match lasted for almost three hours, as the World No. 1 hung on for a victory.
However, Hurkacz made things extremely difficult for the Wimbledon champion and was a bit unlucky to lose out in the end. Alcaraz will take on Tommy Paul of the United States in the quarterfinal on Friday. At the moment, the Spaniard looks good to win his sixth title of the year and thereby reaffirm his status as the premier player in the world.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in the match.
#1 Hubert Hurkacz made a good start to the match
Hurkacz started the match on a great note, breaking Carlos Alcaraz in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. He then managed to maintain the lead for the remainder of the set to win it convincingly.
The Pole, who is well-known for his powerful serve, however, was not able to serve as well as he would have liked in the match since then.
Alcaraz hit a few wonderful returns to stun Hurkacz at times. Still, the win in the first set took the Pole to an advantageous position quite early in the match.
#2 Carlos Alcaraz’s passing shots helped him win:
Hurkacz could judge that he would struggle to contend with the Spaniard from the baseline and hence, he rushed the net quite frequently. However, that gave the young Spaniard an opportunity to hit his passing shots with consummate ease.
A crosscourt forehand passing shot that Alcaraz hit past Hurkacz in the second set was simply wonderful to watch. However, the Pole still managed to take the second set into a tie-break that the Spaniard managed to win.
By the start of the third set, both players had started committing unforced errors quite frequently. Alcaraz broke Hurkacz to take a lead in the set, but the Pole then broke back to level the score at 5-5. The third set also went into a tie-break that the Spaniard managed to win rather easily.
Carlos Alcaraz’s tenacity and resilience thus saw him through in a tight match, but Hurkacz had himself to blame for not being clinical enough. The Pole was able to win only 66 percent of the points on his first serve, while Alcaraz managed a considerably better 75 percent.
