The World No. 13, who did not drop a set en route to the title, was at his impressive best against the Spaniard on Sunday.
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Hubert Hurkacz continued his impressive season on Sunday at the Moselle Open, defeating second seed Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6, 6-3 to win his third ATP Tour title of the year. The World No. 13, who did not drop a set en route to the title, was at his impressive best against the Spaniard on Sunday. He fought back from a break down in the first set, and took it a level higher in the second to secure the victory after 82 minutes. “Pablo is an amazing player, so playing against him in the final here is something special,” Hurkacz said in his on-court interview. “I needed to raise my level to play my best to be able to compete with him and today I came out on top and I am super, super happy about this.”
As a result of the straight set victory, Hurkacz has now levelled his ATP Head-2-Head Series to 1-1 with Carreno Busta. This result means he has gained revenge after falling to the 30-year-old in Cincinnati last month. Earlier this year, the Pole lifted the title in Delray Beach, before capturing his first ATP Masters 1000 crown in Miami. The 24-year-old also overcame former World No. 1 Andy Murray this week on his way to securing his first trophy outside of the United States.
“The atmosphere here is very special here with all of you guys,” Hurkacz added as he complimented the band in the arena. “You guys [the band] make it an amazing atmosphere, so that is so nice that you guys are here.”
Hurkacz began the week in ninth place in the FedEx ATP Race To Turin. It goes without saying that the Pole will be keen to end the season strongly, as he bids to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 14-21 November. Interestingly, Carreno Busta was also seeking his third tour-level trophy of the year, having won in Marbella and Hamburg earlier.
The Spaniard started on the front foot in a in a closely-fought first set. He successfully manoeuvred Hurkacz around the court to break. It kick started a comeback from the Pole, as he began to find his rhythm from the baseline and instantly broke back with a backhand pass in the eighth game. Hurkacz, who won 86 per cent (19/22) of his first-serve points in the set, sealed the set in the tie-break.
The second set started with breaks being exchanged between them. Hurkacz, however, maintained his consistency before the 24-year-old broke for the fourth time to seal his victory.
At the Astana Open, South Korean Soonwoo Kwon survived a hard-fought first set before overcoming James Duckworth 7-6, 6-3 to capture his first ATP Tour title. Notably, Kwon became only the second South Korean man to win a tour-level crown in the Open Era, after 2003 Sydney champion Hyung-Taik Lee.
“I am really happy to win my first ATP 250 title,” Kwon said on Sunday. “I am just really, really happy to win today. It was a tough match today against James. He served really well and played very well and I tried to focus every single point.”
“It was a fantastic tournament and it has been an honour to play here,” Kwon added. “Thank you to my team and my coach for supporting me.”
