Hurkacz Upsets Thiem, Clinches Tie For Poland

Hubert Hurkacz upset World No. 4 Dominic Thiem 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) on Wednesday in Sydney to clinch Poland’s first tie victory at the inaugural ATP Cup. 

Austria was clinging to its hopes of winning Group E and advancing to the Final Eight. But with Hurkacz’s win, Austria is eliminated from the competition, and the winner of tonight’s clash in Sydney between Argentina and Croatia will top the group and reach the Final Eight.

It has been a successful singles week for Hurkacz in Sydney, going 3-0 with all of his opponents ranked inside the Top 30 of the FedEx ATP Rankings. The 22-year-old also defeated Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman and Croatia’s Borna Coric. Hurkacz now leads Thiem 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the Austrian in Miami last year.

Earlier in the day, Kacper Zuk became the lowest-ranked singles player to win a match at the ATP Cup, as the World No. 448 rallied past Dennis Novak 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 to give Poland a 1-0 lead. 

Zuk battled hard against former World No. 3 Marin Cilic on Monday, pushing the Croat to a tie-break in the first set. But while he did not get through that match, he wouldn’t be denied again.

The #NextGenATP player saved nine of the 13 break points he faced to triumph after two hours and 33 minutes. The Pole showed no nerves as he served out the match, attacking the Austrian relentlessly with his forehand on match point until Novak shoveled a backhand passing shot wide.