Published on February 24, 2023 at 8:42 p.m. – updated on February 24, 2023 at 8:43 p.m.
Seeded No. 1 in Marseille, Hubert Hurkacz will be there for the semi-finals, but he suffered to eliminate Mikael Ymer. He will face resurgent Alexander Bublik this week, who beat Grigor Dimitrov by saving a match point.
First semi-final of the season for Hubert Hurkacz! “Only” eighth finalist at the Australian Open and in Rotterdam, the Pole holds his rank of world No. 11 and seeded No. 1 this week in Marseille. But it’s laborious… Already victorious in three sets on Thursday against the young Swiss Riedi for his entry into the running, Hurkacz still needed three sets and 2h51 of play to eliminate the world No. 69, Mikael Ymer. The Pole won 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 against the Swede, who notably beat him at the Australian Open 2021. Author of 19 aces and 59% of first serves, Hurkacz has however lost his service three times. He notably gave it up from the very first game of the match, but caught up well by taking the opposing serve in stride, then at 3-2, to pocket the set. But in the second, he was broken at 2-1 and failed to convert either of his two break points, and Ymer equalized. In the third set, the Pole thought perhaps he had done the hardest part by leading 3-1, but the Swede broke down in stride, and everything was decided in the tie-break. A decisive game where Hurkacz saved a match point at 5-6 on his serve, before winning three points in a row, and therefore the match. Next opponent for the Pole: Alexander Bublik.
Bublik snatch
The Kazakh, who had lost his last ten games before coming to Marseille, is having a very good week, and won his third game, to the detriment of Grigor Dimitrov, seeded n°4. The 50th in the world won 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 after a 2h19 fight against the Bulgarian he was facing for the fifth time (2-2 in confrontations). In this match between two great servers (14 aces for Dimitrov, 16 for Bublik), the Kazakh won the first set thanks to a decisive break at 5-5, but he lost the second by giving up his serve at 2-1, without having an opportunity to unbreak afterwards. It was therefore necessary to play a third set, where the two players held their serve perfectly (only one break point, in favor of Bublik, at 3-2). It all came down to the deciding game, where Dimitrov got two match points at 6-4, before completely breaking down, losing the last four points of the match. It is therefore Bublik who will challenge Hurkacz for a place in the final. The Pole leads 4-1 in their head-to-head and beat them on January 1 in the United Cup.
