Hubert Hurkacz remains on course to retain his title after ending Daniil Medvedev’s world No.1 hopes to book a spot in the Miami Open semi-finals.
The Polish eighth seed triumphed 7-6(7) 6-3 in two hours and three minutes and will meet either Carlos Alcaraz or Miomir Kecmanovic in the last four.
The result also means Novak Djokovic will remain at the top of the ATP rankings heading into the clay swing after Medvedev failed to pick up the victory he needed to edge back above the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
Reflecting on his win, Hurkacz said: “My return was pretty crucial. I was aiming to make a lot of returns and also I was able to make a lot of free points on my serve. That was important because playing rallies with Daniil is fun but they get long so you want some free points!
“(The conditions were) okay for me. I spend a lot of time in Florida so I’m used to the humidity. The conditions favoured me today.”
All eyes were on Medvedev as the players took to court, with many observers expecting the US Open champion to reach the last four in Miami for the first time in four appearances.
However, it was the 2021 champion Hurkacz who rampaged out of the traps to take an early stranglehold on the proceedings. The Pole did not have to do much to break a sluggish Medvedev at the first time of asking as the top seed compounded some sloppy unforced errors with a double fault.
Hurkacz was backing up some big forehands with some smart forays to the net, and a delightful backhand volley, with Medvedev serving at 4-1 down, notched up a chance for the double break.
Medvedev brushed it aside with a stunning crosscourt backhand and hit clutch mode to stay in touch. The Russian had belatedly arrived in the contest and snared two break back points in the following game with a corking backhand up the line. Hurkacz responded with big serving and was equally impressive in manoeuvring out of danger to lead 5-2.
The 25-year-old Pole continued to attack and had two set points on his opponent’s serve but couldn’t convert. It would prove costly as a real wobble attempting to serve it out saw Medvedev break back at the death and go on to force a tie-break.
The world No.2 had recovered from a similarly slow start against Jenson Brooksby in the previous round but he couldn’t complete the rescue act on this occasion as Hurkacz finally got over the line by a 9-7 scoreline in the breaker. It came on a fifth set point and there was a large element of fortune attached to it as a forehand shank at 7-7 somehow dropped in and left Medvedev smiling ruefully.
The 26-year-old Russian survived a nine-minute examination of his serve in the opening game of the second set, saving two more break points to nudge the scoreboard in his favour, but continued to look far from his best.
Hurkacz pressed again in the fifth game and finally breached the top seed’s defences to take a firm grip of the match. Medvedev called for the trainer just after the world No.10 consolidated to lead 4-2 and appeared to take medication for stomach cramps.
Hurkacz refused to get distracted from his goal and broke a weary Medvedev once again to clinch a deserved victory and stay on course for back-to-back titles in Miami.
