Hubert Hurkacz saves championship point against Andrey Rublev to clinch second career Masters-1000 title in Shanghai

Hubert Hurkacz overcomes Andrey Rublev to lift the 2023 Shanghai Masters Title.

Hubert Hurkacz saves championship point against Andrey Rublev to clinch second career Masters-1000 title in Shanghai

Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz ( Credits: AP News, X.com)

Hubert Hurkacz overcame Russian Andrey Rublev in an absolutely thrilling encounter in the finals of the Shanghai Masters. The two players battled it out until the very end, where the Polish prevailed victorious at the end of the 3rd and final set of the match.

The match was an intense one. While Hubert Hurkacz easily won the first set 6-3, Andrey Rublev replicated the same in the second set winning it 6-3. It all came down to the deciding set of the match which went up to the tie-break stage. In a fierce tie-break battle, Hubert finally emerged victorious winning the match and the Championship in 6-3,3-6,7(10)-6(8).

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Hubert Hurkacz very successfully managed to save a Championship point against the Russian during the 3rd set which eventually resulted in an intense tiebreak. The Polish served pretty well throughout the game making things uncomfortable for Andrey Rublev, who seemed pretty disappointed at the end of the match.

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Talking about the match during the on-court interview, Hubert Hurkacz said,“It was such a battle, especially emotionally. Such a tricky match, Andrey was hitting some great shots… I just had to keep believing until the end.” The Polish kept his nerve in the 3rd set and did not let Andrey Rublev convert his match point. The Russian was looking furious at himself over the lost opportunities and smashed his racket on his knee after Hubert won the match point.

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Hubert Hurkacz hopes he impressed Roger Federer

The 20-time Grand Slam Champion, Roger Federer was seen watching the very exciting finals clash between Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz. The Swiss legend arrived in Shanghai as the tournament officials invited him to honor him with the first ever ‘Icon Athlete’ award. An entire event was made in honor of that.

Roger Federer and Hubert Hurkacz
Roger Federer and Hubert Hurkacz ( Credits: Sports.pl)

Hubert Hurkacz won an absolute thriller to clinch his second Masters 1000 title. He was pretty happy with himself and referring to Roger Federer watching the match in the stadium, he mentioned, “Hopefully Roger enjoyed the match as well.”

This win was Hurkacz’s first Masters win since the 2021 Miami Open, which will make him pumped up going ahead in the season and the coming one.

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