Hubert Hurkacz surged to claim his inaugural clay-court title, triumphing over Spain’s Pedro Martinez 6-3, 6-4 on Sunday in the championship match of the Millennium Estoril Open in Estoril, Portugal.

As the no. 2 seed, Hurkacz delivered 15 aces on his way to clinching his 8th career ATP crown. The Pole dominated with 29 out of 35 first-serve points and managed to ward off any break points, contrasting with Martinez’s saving of only 3 out of 5. 

Hurkacz, maintaining a flawless 3-0 record against Martinez on the tour,  ascended two positions to a career-high-tying no. 8 in the ATP ranking on Monday. Meanwhile, Martinez, who upset the top seed Norwegian Casper Ruud in the semifinals, will advance 17 spots to enter the top 60.

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“I’m so happy with my performance today […] I’m proud that I found my serve and that definitely helped me a lot. Pedro is such a great competitor […] I needed to play really great tennis to compete with him, and fortunately, I did it”- the giant Silesian rejoiced after his triumph.  

Hurkacz became the first Polish man in 42 years to clinch a clay court title. The last man to achieve this feat was Wojtek Fibak back in 1981. Today, Hubi etches a new chapter in the history of Polish tennis of which we are witnessing the golden era. 

The Polish number 1 has now won a title on every surface on tour, namely grass, hard, indoor hard, and now clay. It will be interesting to see how he continues the clay season, starting with the Masters 1000 in Monte Carlo. Hubi will face the Brit Jack Draper already on Tuesday in an attempt to continue his series of uninterrupted wins.  

Image: X (@HubertHurkacz)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen