Halle Open: Hubert Hurkacz Wins tiebreak to stun Nick Kyrgios and reach first grass final

Hubert Hurkacz and Nick Kyrgios gave brilliant performances and were evenly matched until the late stages in all three sets, Hubert Hurkacz winning the breaker in the second and third set. Both the players traded points to make it 4-4 in the opening set. Nick Kyrgios secured his only break of the match and fired consecutive winners to win the first set in just 31 minutes.

Hubert Hurkacz got a breakpoint in the fourth game of the second set, but Nick Kyrgios fired an ace to erase the advantage. However, Hubert Hurkacz won five consecutive points to gain a 5-1 lead in the second set tiebreak. He secured a breakpoint at 1-1 in the third set but failed to convert and held for love in three of his last four games to win the decider 7-6(4).

The 25-year-old Pole struck 27 aces and won 79% of the service points on his first serve and 78% of the points on the second serve against the Australian to advance to his first ATP Tour final of 2022. 

Hubert Hurkacz was playing his third semifinal of the season. His victory at Halle improved his win-loss record for the ongoing season to 27-11.

In a post-match interview, Hubert Hurkacz said, "One or two shots was the difference. Super close. Nick played a great match. He's a great player, so it was a super tough one. Trying to hit the strings on the return is what I'm trying to do. Playing here with a great server like Nick, you try to get one ball in, and that can make the difference.

Hubert Hurkacz will face World No. 1 Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the Halle Open on June 19