Why Hurkacz Has Entered The Season Of Opportunity

Hubert Hurkacz not only reached the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters quarter-finals on Thursday with a 7-6(2), 6-2 win against 2017 finalist Albert Ramos-Vinolas, but he also entered the season of opportunity.

From this week through the week of 20 June — a span of 11 weeks — the Polish star is defending just 188 ATP Rankings points. Nobody ranked ahead of the World No. 14 is defending fewer than 300 points during the same stretch.

By advancing to the last eight in Monte Carlo, Hurkacz has already earned 180 points for this tournament alone. With his strong run in the Principality — which will continue on Friday against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov — Hurkacz has already covered 96 per cent of the points he is defending for the next two-and-a-half months.

Hurkacz’s Upcoming Points To Defend

Hurkacz can still gain another 820 points in Monte Carlo, and he is competing in the ATP 500 in Barcelona before ATP Masters 1000 events in Madrid and Rome and the season’s second Grand Slam at Roland Garros. With such a wealth of points up for grabs, the Pole has a chance to make a big move.

One year ago, he claimed just one win during his clay-court season and the two grass-court tournaments he played before Wimbledon. This year, he is off to a much better start for this stretch with victories against three clay-court standouts in Monaco: Hugo Dellien, Pedro Martinez and Ramos-Vinolas.

At Wimbledon, Hurkacz will defend 720 points because he reached the semi-finals at SW19 last year. But until then, plenty of opportunity awaits.