By advancing to the semifinals of the Paris tournament, Hubert Hurkacz also secured his promotion to the season-ending ATP Finals. Eight of the best tennis players of the past year will play in Turin. Iga Świątek has already qualified for the women’s masters. It is a huge success of Polish tennis.
Hubert Hurkacz defeated James Duckworth 6:2, 6:7 (4), 7:6 on Friday at the Bercy Arena in Paris. The Polish tennis player will face Novak Djokovic in the semifinals in France, but a win against the Australian has already secured his place in the prestigious ATP Finals in Turin.
“It’s an amazing feeling. When I was growing up as a kid, I watched all these top guys play in the finals. This is inspiring. Now, being among them, I feel special because there are only eight seats, so it’s not easy to get there,” stressed Hurkacz.
O takich chwilach marzysz będąc dzieckiem @RolexPMasters#NittoATPFinals
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When you are a child you dream about such moment #RolexParisMasters#NittoATPFinals pic.twitter.com/ZPdUUZIOTS— Hubert Hurkacz (@HubertHurkacz) November 5, 2021
The Polish tennis player admitted that he has received strong support from his compatriots in recent weeks.
“I get a lot of support, especially from other athletes. I hope that thanks to me Poland is a little bit prouder,” he said in an interview with Tennis Channel.
“Interest in tennis in Poland is also growing thanks to Iga Świątek, who is in the WTA Finals. It’s amazing that we have two players at such a high level. Hopefully, many more boys and girls will join the top soon,” Hurkacz added.
On Saturday, in the semi-finals in Paris, “Hubi” will play against the leader of the world ranking Novak Djokovic. This will be their third duel. The Serb won the previous two, in 2019 at the French Open and Wimbledon.
In addition to Hurkacz and Djokovic, Russia’s Daniil Medvedev, Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas, Germany’s Alexander Zverev, Russia’s Andrei Rublev, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini and Norway’s Casper Ruud have qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin (November 14-21).
So far, the only Pole to play in a tournament of this rank in singles was Wojciech Fibak. In 1976 in Houston, he reached the final, which he lost in five sets to Spain’s Manuel Orantes.