Hubert Hurkacz

Hurkacz playing at the 2018 Washington Open

Hurkacz played in the main draw at the 2018 French Open and defeated Tennys Sandgren in the first round. This marked his first victory at a Grand Slam and at any ATP main draw event.[6] He lost in the second round to third seed Marin Čilić in four sets.[7]

In August, Hurkacz made his US Open debut. He began in the qualifying and was aiming to reach his third straight Grand Slam main draw as a qualifier. He did so, beating John-Patrick Smith, Egor Gerasimov and Pedro Martinez Portero, all in straight sets, to reach the US Open first round. There, he faced Stefano Travaglia who, like many others, fell victim to the extreme heat and retired. In the second round, Hurkacz lost to the 2014 US Open champion Marin Čilić. This was the second meeting between Čilić and Hurkacz. The first had come in the second round of Roland Garros earlier that year, when Hurkacz was playing at his first Grand Slam and was fresh from claiming his first Tour-level win against Tennys Sandgren.[8] In 2018, Hurkacz received a nomination for the ATP Newcomer of the Year Award.[9]

Hurkacz started his season at the 2019 Maharashtra Open in Pune, India. He continued at the Canberra Challenger, where he won the title after defeating Ilya Ivashka in the final. Hurkacz followed that up by making his debut at the Australian Open. He faced one of the best servers on the Tour, drawing Ivo Karlović in the opening round at Melbourne Park.[10] After winning the first set, Hurkacz lost the match in four sets, all of which were tiebreakers. At the 2019 Dubai Tennis Championships, he defeated Corentin Moutet in the first round and then went on to win against No. 1 seeded player Kei Nishikori, which marked his first ever win against a top 10 player. Hurkacz lost in the quarterfinals in three sets to the eventual runner-up of the tournament, Stefanos Tsitsipas.[11]

In March, Hurkacz played at the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, where he made it to the quarterfinals of an ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career. On his way to the quarterfinals, he defeated Kei Nishikori in the third round and Denis Shapovalov in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals, he lost to Roger Federer. Following Indian Wells, Hurkacz achieved a new career high singles ranking of world No. 54. He continued at the 2019 Miami Open, where he defeated Matteo Berrettini in first round. In the second round, Hurkacz took down the 2019 BNP Paribas Open champion, Dominic Thiem, in straight sets before falling to Félix Auger-Aliassime in the third round.

At the 2019 Mutua Madrid Open, Hurkacz defeated Alex de Minaur and Lucas Pouille. He lost to Alexander Zverev in the third round after winning the first set. He continued at the French Open, where he lost to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the first round.

Hurkacz later produced an upset in the first round of the 2019 Eastbourne International, with a victory over seventh seed Marco Cecchinato in just over an hour. He then defeated Steve Johnson in the second round.[12] In the quarterfinals Hurkacz lost a tight match against the eventual champion Taylor Fritz.

For the first time in his career, Hurkacz reached the third round of a Grand Slam. At Wimbledon, he defeated Dušan Lajović and Leonardo Mayer to set up a third round match with world No. 1 Novak Djokovic. For two sets, Hurkacz gave Djokovic all he could handle before eventually succumbing to the top seed in four sets.[13] At the 2019 Rogers Cup, Hurkacz defeated Taylor Fritz and Stefanos Tsitsipas before losing a third round match to Gaël Monfils.[14] Two weeks later, Hurkacz defeated Benoît Paire to win his first ATP title in Winston-Salem. In October Hubert Hurkacz prevailed over Gael Monfils in straight sets in the second round of the Shanghai Masters (tennis).[15] In the third round he lost to Stefanos Tsitsipas.

At the 2020 ATP Cup Hurkacz defeated a trio of higher-ranked opponents: Dominic Thiem, Diego Schwartzman and Borna Coric. Sixth seed Hurkacz picked up where he left off at the ATP Cup, advancing to the semifinal of the ATP Auckland Open with victories over Lorenzo Sonego, Mikael Ymer, and Feliciano López.[16] Seeded at No. 31 at the 2020 Australian Open, Hurkacz reached the second round, defeating Dennis Novak before falling to John Millman in straight sets.

Playing at the Rotterdam Open Hurkacz lost a three set 1st round match to Stefanos Tsitsipas. He continued in doubles with Félix Auger-Aliassime. To reach the quarter final they defeated third seeds Nikola Mektić and Wesley Koolhof. At the 2020 Dubai Tennis Championships Hurkacz lost to Alexander Bublik in the first round.

Since tennis stopped on March 8th due to COVID-19 pandemic Hurkacz resumed training with his coach Craig Boynton at the Saddlebrook Academies in Florida[17].

In May, Hurkacz played at the UTR Pro Match Series presented by Tennis Channel, a two-day round-robin tournament in West Palm Beach, Florida. Four top 60 ATP players including Hubert Hurkacz, Miomir Kecmanovic, Reilly Opelka and Tommy Paul (tennis) competed in the inaugural edition from May 8-9, 2020[18].

Hurkacz is a big-hitter, which is no surprise given that he stands 6’5”. He is an effective server and can hit powerfully from both his forehand and backhand. But, like many of the Tour's more powerful players, consistency is an issue.[8] Hurkacz plays solidly from the back of the court. He plays a low, flat and dangerous ball, while holding the ball in the court. Everyone talks about his serve and forehand, but his backhand is even better than his forehand. All in all, he is an excellent, versatile player who can attack, accelerate and defend, believes former top 10 player Wojciech Fibak.[19]

In the early years (2010–2016), Hurkacz was coached by Filip Kańczuła. In 2017, he continued with Wrocław coaches Alexander Charpantidis and Paweł Stadniczenko, who shaped the tennis career of Michał Przysiężny, while Przemysław Piotrowicz was responsible for physical preparation. In 2018, "Hubi" decided to work with New Zealander Rene Moller, who appeared at his side during the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan later that same year. Under his leadership, Hurkacz won the Challenger in Canberra and strengthened himself in the top 100. At the 2019 BNP Paribas Open, Hurkacz began his coaching partnership with Craig Boynton, who worked with such players as Jim Courier, Mardy Fish, John Isner, Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson.[5]

Statistics correct as of 19 February 2020.

Statistics correct as of 19 February 2020.