"Jannik Sinner qualified himself" - Hubert Hurkacz on the Italian qualifying for ATP Finals SF thanks to his performance against Novak Djokovic
Hubert Hurkacz qualified for the 2023 ATP Finals as an alternate after Stefanos Tsitsipas suffered an injury. He played his first match at the tournament against Novak Djokovic on November 16.
Heading into the contest, Hubert Hurkacz knew he could not qualify for the semi-finals at the year-end championships due to the two losses suffered by Tsitsipas. However, he gave his Serbian opponent a tough fight and took the contest to three sets. Djokovic took the first set via a tiebreaker, only for Hurkacz to level the score in the second set. The 24-time Grand Slam champion showed his class in the third set to clinch the contest, 7-6 (1), 4-6, 6-1.
By taking a set off of Djokovic, Hurkacz ensured that Jannik Sinner booked his berth in the semi-final from the Green Group. The Italian has so far bettered Tsitsipas, 6-4, 6-4, and Djokovic, 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2), in Turin. He could finish top of the group if he defeats Holger Rune in his final group stage match at the ATP Finals.
After his match against the Serb, Hubert Hurkacz was asked if he received some sort of thank you message from Sinner, thanking him for confirming his semi-final qualification by winning a set against Djokovic. The Pole dismissed any such notion and lauded Sinner for clinching his first two contests and keeping his destiny in his own hands. Hurkacz went on to wish Sinner the best of luck for the latter stages of the tournament.
"I think he qualified himself by winning two first matches. He's obviously a great guy. Yeah, he's been playing really amazing tennis. Yeah, I wish him well he's going to play two great matches here. Well, three...," Hurkacz said in his post-match press conference.
Hubert Hurkacz on his plans for 2024 - "I'm more ambitious than what I achieved this year"
With his 2023 season over, Hubert Hurkacz is looking forward to making more progress on the 2024 ATP Tour. The Polish No. 1 struggled to find solid footing in the first half of the 2023 season. A resurgence after the US Open, which included winning the ATP 1000 Shanghai Masters, helped him finish the year as World No. 9 and become the first alternate at the ATP Finals.
The 26-year-old is aware of his slow progress in 2023. While he has not thought much about his plans for 2024, he hopes to build upon his good form at the end of the year and carry it into the next season.
"Well, obviously I'm more ambitious than what I achieved this year. Definitely know the end of the year was better and I'm happy with the progress. I'll just try to build upon it. Yeah, I mean, didn't think yet about the next season," Hurkacz said in his post-match press conference.
Apart from the title in Shanghai, which was his second ATP 1000 title, Hubert Hurkacz won the ATP 250 Marseille Open. He also finished runners-up at the Swiss Indoors Basel as well as reaching the semi-finals at the Western & Southern Open and Stuttgart Open.