2023-08-20 01:38:04
Match point against and Hubert Hurkacz has a comfortable forehand at half court. The game is 90% lost, but the Pole, with victory in hand, sends the blow a meter outside. He just missed the opportunity to demolish Carlos Alcaraz 6-2 6-4. In other words, a beating. He has granted an extra life to the Murcian, who is seen again against the ropes in the ‘tie break’ of the second set; 4-1 in favor of the Pole, three points from victory. And he implodes again. He throws it all away and allows Alcaraz to be reborn. He no longer gave away the Spanish, who survived a hell of a match (2-6, 7-6 (4) and 6-3) to qualify for the final of the Cincinnati Masters 1,000.
He was in the shower for several minutes, but he will play his eighth final of the year, the first of his career on these tracks.
And that Hurkacz came to deserve to play for that title, at least until that forehand at half court with 5-4 in favor in the second set. He had played a practically perfect match up to that point, saving five ‘break’ balls in the first quarter and three in the second. The take from him was a cannon that flew regularly beyond 200 kilometers per hour and kissed line after line. The Pole was very comfortable, also taking advantage of the physical exhaustion of the Spaniard, who accumulated more than eight hours on track during the week, more than any other semifinalist.
But from that defective right, everything changed. Hurkacz wasted his moment and although in the tiebreaker of the second set he had him within range, with 4-1 in favor, it was only a mirage. He did not win a point again in that ‘tie break’, he lost them all, without the need for Alcaraz, beyond a spectacular ‘passing’, to do anything special. The set had been lost by Hurkacz himself.
As it already happened to him at Wimbledon against Novak Djokovic, when he was able to win three sets and only took one, Hurkacz wrinkled at the moment of truth. And before a number one in the world like Alcaraz, that is a death sentence.
When the third set started, the tables had turned, and Alcaraz’s body language exhibited a superiority that ate away at the pale face of the Pole, who knew he had gone from protagonist to victim.
As soon as Alcaraz enjoyed breaking balls again, there was no room for more forgiveness. After ten lost balls, the ‘break’ finally arrived at the eleventh. Alcaraz had waited two hours to break Hurkacz’s serve, and the advantage could not be lost.
The Spaniard no longer had any more shocks, closed 6-3 and went to rest, while Novak Djokovic waited his turn playing ludo in the players’ room.
Alcaraz will play the Cincinnati final this Sunday, the fifth Masters 1,000 in his career, with the privilege of having won all of them previously.
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