26th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland got the better of Italian 21st seed Jannik Sinner in straight sets 7-6(4),6-4 in the Miami Open 2021 Final. He also won the First Masters 1000 title for his country and joined the special list of champions at the premium ATP level at 24.
The Pole is yet to lose a match in Florida this year, conquering the Delray Beach crown at the beginning of the season and extending the streak in Miami to add 1000 points to his tally and pass 21 rivals on the ATP list and enter the top-16.
Interestingly, it was the first Masters 1000 final between two players ranked outside the top-30 since Paris 2003, with Hurkacz becoming the lowest-ranked champion at this level since Paris 2005 where Tomas Berdych won.
Hurkacz toppled two top 10 players enroute his title win
The Final between Hurkacz and Sinner was a surprise even though Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Dominic Thiem skipped the tournament. Among those failing to capitalize on their absences were top-seeded Daniil Medvedev, No. 2 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 3 Alexander Zverev and No. 4 Andrey Rublev.
In a dream tournament, the Pole beat Tsitsipas, Rublev, Shapovalov, Raonic and Sinner on the way. All of Tsitsipas, Rublev and Shapovalov are ranked within the top 11, making Hurkacz’s victory even more valuable.
He looked calm and composed throughout the match and didn’t give much chance to his 5 year younger opponent despite the first set going into the tie-break. He broke the Italian twice in the second set before closing out the match.
Also read: ATP Cagliari 2021: Men’s singles Draw Preview, Analysis and Prediction for Sardegna Open
