Carreño touches the sky in Montreal

Pablo Carreño achieved a historic victory this Sunday in Canada. The Asturian tennis player got his first Masters 1,000 and he did it with outstanding tennis and the conviction that he can fight with the best in the world. Carreño defeated Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 after an exhibition.

The first quarter began with balanced forces. Both Carreño and Hurkacz kept the serve with solvency, with a high percentage of firsts. However, in the sixth game, the set was broken in favor of the Pole. The man from Gijón had two consecutive errors that made him play hastily. Circumstance that his rival took advantage of to take the game in white and by extension the first set. Just his powerful serve and several powerful right hands was enough for an overly stiff Carreño.

It may have been the nerves of playing his first Masters 1,000 final, but the man from Gijón came out with doubts that, with the passing of the games, evaporated. The second set was another story. Carreño played with more ease and his shots once again had the freshness of the previous days. The game that had taken him to the final left the Pole with little response. Hurkacz, a player settled in the ‘top ten’, has many virtues and suffers with lateral movements. Carreño began to move him and that increased his chances of victory.

His rival began to feel uncomfortable and even tried a drop shot to break the pace of the Asturian, who devoured the games with overwhelming tennis. Both from the bottom and near the net, Carreño responded with equal parts fierceness and solvency. At the first change and blank he broke the serve of his opponent Carreño, who managed with skill and many ‘winners’ the advantage of him against the ‘cannon shots’ of the rival, who survived with direct serves. Carreño waved his racket looking at his box. He recovered his smile after the disappointment of the first quarter. I took it from him, far from the speed of his opponent, he was voracious enough to dismount Hurkacz, unable to do any damage with the rest.

The third and final began with the planned script. The Pole reacted with three aces. A notice. Paul suffered with his. Without ‘firsts’ each point became a battle, with long exchanges. The man from Gijon clenched his fist and breathed after grabbing onto the track. The next game, Carreño took the opportunity from him. He knew how to be patient with the rest and provoked the mistakes of a deranged Hurkacz, who ended up throwing the racket, deranged and frustrated in equal parts. Only the serve allowed the Pole to get his head against the man from Gijón, capable of fighting until the last meter for each ball. Second serves were key. Carreño took advantage of his own very well, while Hukacz suffered outside his habitat. The rest rounded off a spectacular game, minimizing a whole ‘top ten’. Big Carreno.