Originally seeded in Turin, Hurkacz, the seventh seed, was scheduled to face another representative of the host – Matteo Berrettini (sixth) on Tuesday night. He withdrew, however, a few hours ago with an abdominal muscle injury, which caused him to itch in Sunday’s opener. Sinner joined the cast in place of his countryman as a first alternative.
– I found out while warming up. I knew, of course, that Mathieu scratched at the start of the second set in his first match, so I was counting on the possibility of a change. I was ready to compete with both players – and the Pole who made his debut at the Masters event last season was confirmed at the post-match press conference.
When asked how difficult this situation was for him, when he was almost not sure who to play with, he replied with a bitter smile: “It turned out to be a little difficult.”
The 20-year-old Italian paid the Poles for defeat in their only duel so far. At the beginning of April, the Wroclaw native, ninth in the ATP list, defeated the eleventh player from Italy in the final of the prestigious Masters 1000 ATP tournament in Miami 7:6 (4), 6:4.
– What made the result different now? I didn’t win many matches. It certainly wasn’t my day. I had situations that I didn’t take advantage of that ultimately made this result what it is. Jannick played very well today, applause. Today’s match was definitely faster. Show a great tennis Yannick today. Congratulations to him. He played really well in key moments, and I… Sometimes you don’t take your chances – Hurkacz said.
He added that his problems increased during Tuesday’s match with an Italian player who is a friend of his. – Yannick kept the pass when I had a “break point”, and then took his chances. From the start I felt good on the field. Later I had problems maintaining my own service and the scales in this match were tipped to his side – he pointed out.
The Italian player played calmly, and he could also count on the support of the local fans who encouraged him. – Fans cheered Janek, but I also got support. I would like to thank the Poles who came. Of course, the Italians mainly cheered for Sinner, but the atmosphere in the stadium was great – Hurkacz summed it up.
Pole, after two defeats, still has a chance to advance to the semi-finals, but not everything is in his hands now. In the Group C match, he will face Alexander Zverev (third) on Thursday, whose budget is 1-1. He has to defeat the German and hope to defeat Daniil Medvedev, who has two victories, Sener. The latter, although joining the cast during the tournament, also has a chance to get into the “four” – he has to win with the Russian and count on the victory of the Pole over Zverev.
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