Hurkacz Earns Critical Win For Poland Against Wawrinka

Hubert Hurkacz earned a critical win for Team Poland on Tuesday evening against Team Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka, putting his country one victory from the Brisbane City Final.

Hurkacz battled through a tense clash against the former World No. 3 7-6(5), 6-4 to give Poland a 2-1 advantage. Magda Linette will now try to close out the tie in the No. 2 women’s singles match against Jil Teichmann. If Teichmann wins, the mixed doubles match will decide the tie.

“Never had a chance before to play against Stan, so I was really looking forward for that match. He’s such a legend of the sport. I was watching him win the Grand Slams and now I can share the court with him, so that was a huge pleasure for me,” Hurkacz said. “Definitely a very big match. Obviously very happy to get a point for Team Poland, so I was really excited about it. It was a big point for us and we’ll keep fighting.” 

The stakes were high for Hurkacz and Wawrinka, with both players knowing the edge in Group B was hanging in the balance. Switzerland playing captain battled hard and the margins were fine, but World No. 10 Hurkacz found his best in the critical moments to triumph after one hour and 39 minutes.

Hurkacz made a quick start by immediately breaking Wawrinka’s serve. But once the 37-year-old Swiss revved up his engine, it seemed his firepower might help turn the tide of the match.

However, the three-time Grand Slam champion made a critical error at 3/3 in the first-set tie-break, which proved his undoing. Wawrinka double faulted, and Hurkacz took full advantage to close out the set.

At 3-3 in the second set, a serving Wawrinka hit a screaming backhand passing shot for a winner to avoid facing triple break point. While it was a vintage ‘Stan The Man’ moment reminiscent of his time at the top of the sport, the Swiss was unable to hold off the Hurkacz barrage forever.

The Pole earned a break point later in the game and changed his approach, moving into the net with a ball to Wawrinka’s forehand, which faltered under the pressure.

“I found my rhythm on serve towards the end of the match and definitely from the baseline I was hitting some better shots,” Hurkacz said. “It was a really, really important match and I’m happy that I was building my game through the whole match and it was a really tough battle.”

The country that wins the tie will move on to face Italy in the Brisbane City Final. The Italians defeated Brazil and Norway to top Group E.