Due to rain, 30 hours passed between the first and last ball in Hubert Hurkacz’s match with American Brandon Nakashima in the second round of the French Open in Paris. “I definitely prefer it when he’s on the bottom,” the Polish tennis player admitted after winning 6:7 (2-7), 6:1, 6:3, 7:6 (7-5). They will face each other in the next round
Nakashima was the next player, after Shintaro Mochizuki, whom Hurkacz faced for the first time in his career. In the opening round, he defeated the Japanese 4:6, 6:3, 3:6, 6:0, 6:3, and against the American, ranked 84th in the world rankings, he performed better and gave him only one set.
Although the players spent three hours and 14 minutes on the field, the match took much longer because it started on Wednesday at 11 a.m. Then the first set was interrupted by rain, the score was 6: 5 for the Americans, and on that day the tennis players never returned to the court.
On Thursday, they also started the competition at 11, but before they finished the match, they had to go to the locker room twice due to rain. The final stretch only lasted 20 minutes, because they were back in the match at 5:5 in the fourth set.
“I started every break with stretching exercises, then I ate something small. Matches were postponed every half hour or hour, so it was not known when we would start, and we had to be careful not to eat before the match.” Hurkacz revealed.
He added: “It is also important to relax during breaks. If you are focused on the match all the time, you will feel exhausted, and when you step on the field, you will not have any energy.”
He ran into only minor trouble Thursday morning, when he lost the tiebreaker. He later took control of the events in court. Throughout the match, Nakashima was never able to break it.
The Pole admitted: “It’s always different when you play with someone for the first time. Those 40 minutes on Wednesday definitely helped me, it was a bit of an adaptation.”
In the tiebreak of the fifth set, Hurkacz did not lose even for a moment. From the score 5-5, he scored two points and advanced to the next round. Coach Craig Boynton’s player ended the match in his own style with a crushing strike. He sent 16 of them in the entire match.
The 27-year-old Wrocław player’s next opponent will be Denis Shapovalov, two years younger than him. The Canadian defeated American Frances Tiafoe, seeded 25th, 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.
Shapovalov is only 118th in the world rankings. Her highest finish – 10th – was in September 2020. In Paris she never went beyond the third round. Hurkacz has a 4-1 record against him, but they will face each other on clay for the first time.
“A very aggressive player, who likes to take the initiative. He has amazing shots. He may make some mistakes sometimes, but he is very dynamic. If he is allowed to lead the game, he takes advantage of the opportunities he has,” the Pole said. Stand out from its closest competitors.
In theory, Hurkacz is supposed to play the third round match on Friday, but due to the rain there is a big delay in the game plan and it is not yet known what matches will be played that day.
“I definitely prefer it to be hot, warm and sunny,” he said. “This season, it was only really warm and pleasant on the clay courts in Rome, and the rest of the time it was very cold. The conditions here are also very difficult.”
Hurkacz’s best result at the French Open was reaching the 1/8 finals, which he reached in 2022.
Hurkacz – Shapovalov. When will the match end? when?
When is the match between Hurkač and Shapovalov? This is a question that tennis fans ask themselves. The match between Hurkacz and Shapovalov was originally scheduled to take place on Friday, May 31. Due to rain, Hurkacz and Shapovalov were unable to finish the match, which was stopped in the third set. The Hurkacz-Shapovalov match continues on Saturday, June 1, around 1 p.m.
PAP
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