Just a few days after having won the 5th title of his career in Halle, Hubert Hurkacz got trapped by the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovitch-Fokina in the first round of Wimbledon.
In the meantime, the promising 20-year-old Maja Chwalińska defeated the Czech Katerina Siniakova with authority (6:0 ; 7:5). Katarzyna Kawa won a harsh battle against the Canadian Rebecca Marino (6:4 ; 3:6 ; 7:5). Magda Linette outplayed the Mexican Fernanda Contreras Gomez (6:1 ; 6:4) while Kamil Majchrzak to the Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis (7:6 ; 6:2 ; 7:5).
Hurkacz and Davidovitch-Fokina started even before quickly being interrupted by the rain in the middle of the first set (3:3). The interruption seemed to benefit the Spaniard more, who managed to seal the first set in the tie-break after displaying some brilliant tennis (7:6[4]).
In the second set, it seemed as if the Pole could not find the lacked the creativity to produce the quality of tennis that allowed him to give a tennis lesson to the world number 1 Daniil Medvedev in the Halle final.
With the loss of the second set (6:4), things started to look bad for the world number 12. The latter resisted better in the third set but remained under heavy pressure until the rain interrupted both men in their battle once again at 5:5 (15-15).
This time, “Hubi” grabbed the occasion to surprise his opponent at the restart, broke him, and won the set (7:5) before sailing confidently through the fourth set as if it was a formality (6:2).
Now the tide had turned, and it is Hurkacz who was in control. He broke his opponent and lead 5:3. This is when the Davidovitch-Fokina simply refused to be beaten. The Spaniard continued to fight and pushed the epic battle into a decisive super tie-break. Here again, the Pole had the upper hand, leading 7:4, but giving in at the most crucial moment (6:7[8]).
The champion from Wrocław leaves Wimbledon earlier than anybody would have expected.
In accordance with his recent announcement on Twitter in which he said he would send 100 euros for every ace he hits, 2100 euros will leave his bank account to be donated to a charitable organisation helping Ukrainian children struck by war.
https://twitter.com/HubertHurkacz/status/1541104981285158912?s=20&t=2KnTIrKgMgiYuT63oTP5lw
We also look forward to the start of the world number 1 Iga Świątek who is about to challenge the Croatian Jana Fett as well as Magdalena Fręch who will be opposed to the Italian Camila Giorgi. It is worth mentioning that Iga Świątek is expected to become the first-ever female player to win her 36th consecutive match on tour, a historic achievement.
We keep our fingers crossed for our Polish champions!
Image: Twitter @z_kortu
Author: Sébastien Meuwissen
