Iga Swiatek congratulates compatriot Hubert Hurkacz on Shanghai Masters triumph
Hubert Hurkacz has received a congratulatory message from compatriot Iga Swiatek after defeating Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8) to win the 2023 Shanghai Masters on October 15.
Swiatek, who won the China Open last week, took to social media to hail Hurkacz, who clinched his second career Masters title in Shanghai on Sunday.
The WTA World No. 2 responded to an emotional note from Hurkacz. The Pole thanked his friends, family, and the Shanghai crowd for the "special" win while also lauding Andrey Rublev on his performance during the competition.
"Great job, Hubi! Huge congratulations," Swiatek wrote.
Andrey Rublev had powered his way into the title round with straight-set wins in all his matches in Shanghai. Hurkacz, meanwhile, was stretched to a third set by Zhang Zhizhen and Fabian Marozsan earlier in the competition.
After seeing off Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 in the semifinals, the Pole lost the second set to Rublev in the final. However, he ensured that his powerful first serve helped him prevail against the fifth-seeded Russian in the all-important final.
Having lost to Rublev at Dubai and Indian Wells last year, Hubert Hurkacz beat the 25-year-old in the race to a second Masters title. Rublev had won the Monte-Carlo Masters earlier this season while Hurkacz reigned supreme at Miami back in 2021.
Hubert Hurkacz became the highest-ranked male player in Polish history after climbing to the ATP World No. 9 slot back in 2021. Meanwhile, former WTA World No. 1 Iga Swiatek is the first Pole to have won a Grand Slam title.
Iga Swiatek's roller-coaster 2023 season thus far
The 2023 season failed to start as per plan for Iga Swiatek as she was beaten by Elena Rybakina in the fourth round of the Australian Open. She bounced back to win the Qatar Open but failed to get past Barbora Krejcikova in the final of the Dubai Tennis Championships.
Elena Rybakina ended the Warsaw-born player's run in the semifinals of the Indian Wells Masters. But Swiatek made a huge statement by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the Stuttgart Open title round.
The intense rivalry between Sabalenka and Swiatek was on display in the Madrid final as well, with the Belarusian tilting the scales. Rybakina, meanwhile, advanced to the Italian Open semifinals at the cost of the 22-year-old Pole in Rome.
Iga Swiatek maintained her supremacy at Roland Garros but fell to Elina Svitolina in the Wimbledon quarterfinals. A triumph at home in Poland for the four-time Grand Slam champion was followed by a semifinal defeat to Jessica Pegula at the Canadian Open.
Coco Gauff stunned the top seed in Cincinnati while Jelena Ostapenko got the better of Swiatek in the fourth round of the US Open.
A quarterfinal loss to Veronika Kudermetova notwithstanding, Iga Swiatek defeated Liudmila Samsonova to reign supreme in Beijing.