ATP Finals, Turin, Italy: It was nearly a one-sided encounter between World No. 3, Alexander Zverev, and World No. 8, Hubert Hurkacz. With the German dominating 6-2, 6-4 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Finals 2021.
Zverev qualifies with winning two games and losing one. The loss came against the Russian, Daniil Medvedev. The pressure was on the German to deliver a must-win result.
“Today was a tough match mentally because I needed to win, so I was 100 percent focused,” Zverev said. “It was very up and down, and I am happy to be through and win in straight sets. You can always improve. The margins are always very small between the top players, but to win you have to do the details right. I hope I can do that on Saturday.”
The game was fully dominated by Zverev right from the start. Breaking the Pole twice to lead the first set 4-0. It only took 26 minutes for the German to claim the first set maneuvering the Pole around the court.
The second set was a bit fighty, however, it was nothing to worry for Zverev with the quality of play he was dictating. Hurkacz was gaining momentum from his service games with 100% first serve in the opening two service games.
A successful year for the Pole star, Hubert Hurkacz, winning his maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami and lifting trophies in Delray Beach and Metz. Also reaching the semifinals at Wimbledon defeating Roger Federer in the quarterfinals.
The german broke at 4-4 from a wide forehand by Hubert Hurkacz. From there on, Zverev sealed the victory to book his spot in the Semifinals to face Novak Djokovic, which was expected.
Alexander Zverev on facing Novak Djokovic: “We have played each other in basically every single big hard-court event this year, at the ATP Cup, Australian Open, Olympics, and US Open,” said Zverev, who beat Djokovic en route to the Tokyo Olympics gold medal in August. “So it’s only right that we play each other here as well.”
“I’m looking forward to it,” said Zverev, ahead of their 11th ATP Head2Head meeting. “It’s always interesting and close when we play each other, so I’m expecting another tough one… There will be a lot of long rallies, we will run a lot more and suffer, in a way, a lot more as well.
“I think every single match we have played has been close. We’ve needed to be at our best and one or two points decided the matches. I expect no different here as well.”
World No. 3 knows that Djokovic has a strong following in Italy, but Zverev has also enjoyed his time in Turin. “I love Italy a lot and I think the fans can relate to me as well,” said Zverev, who won the 2017 Internazionali BNL d’Italia crown in Rome. “The food is great… I feel that the Italian fans are louder, they are electric and into the sport.”
