Polish player climbs to 8th spot in ATP ranking
Hubert Hurkacz played a dominant brand of tennis in the final of the Estoril Open tennis tournament on Sunday with a straight sets victory (6-3 and 6-4) over Spain’s Pedro Martínez to take the title.
The 27-year-old Polish player, who has climbed to the 8th spot of the ATP ranking, was overjoyed with his performance.
“I’m so happy with my performance today,” said Hurkacz, cited by the ATP Tour website. “I’m proud that I found my serve and that definitely helped me a lot. Pedro is such a great competitor, an amazing battle last night. I needed to play really great tennis to compete with him and fortunately I did it.”
Proof his dominance in the final is an incredible stat from Infosys ATP Stats, which shows that Hurkacz won 83% (29/35) of points behind his first serve against Martínez.
“Obviously it is something special to play in a final,” said Hurkacz after improving to 8-2 in ATP Tour finals. “There was such a great crowd, a great atmosphere and I just really appreciate all the support. It’s an amazing tournament and it was so fun to be here for a week.”
The Estoril Open title was Hurkacz’s first ATP title this season and eighth in his career.
Nuno Borges, Portugal’s top-ranked tennis player, made it to the quarter-finals of the tournament but was eliminated by Chilean rival Cristian Garín in a match marked by a controversial decision by chair umpire Christian Rask that went viral.
At a time when Borges held a 3-2 lead in the second set after losing the first and had the advantage on Garin’s serve, a crowd member yelled “out” in the middle of a rally. Despite the disturbance, the Portuguese player returned the shot before Garín hit his shot well out.
Garín argued that Borges had stopped playing, and the umpire seemingly agreed as he awarded the point to the Chilean player. Borges protested the decision, asking why he was being penalised when he did nothing wrong.
Even Australia’s star tennis player Nick Kyrgios took to social media to contest the decision, tweeting: “This umpire should be fired and never be able to take place in another match. Disgrace.”
The decision proved pivotal, as Borges lost the opportunity to secure a vital break and Garín went on to win the second set and the match.
