SHANGHAI: Hubert Hurkacz saved a match point before defeating fifth seed Andrey Rublev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10/8) to win a thrilling Shanghai Masters final on Sunday. It was the big-serving Pole’s second Masters triumph, to go with the one he won in Miami in 2021, and a seventh ATP title in all. “It was such a battle, especially emotionally,” the 16th seed said after surviving a nail-biting third-set tie break in front of the watching Roger Federer. “I had a match point and Andrey hit an amazing serve and then he had a match point and then I had some match points.

“It was back and forth and such a tricky match.” Hurkacz had Rublev under pressure early and broke the Russian with a vicious whipped forehand that Rublev had no chance of returning to lead 4-2 in the first set. The 25-year-old Rublev let out an angry roar in response and then Hurkacz easily held his own booming serve to go up 5-2. The Pole Hurkacz came into the final with a tournament-leading 77 aces and Rublev could not handle his blistering serve. Hurkacz sealed the first set in 31 minutes—and it was inevitably with another ace.

He sent down 21 over the course of a topsy-turvy final. It was the first set that Rublev had dropped in Shanghai. But Rublev, who won the Monte Carlo Masters in April, struck back to break his opponent’s torpedo of a serve for a 2-0 lead at the start of the second set. A rejuvenated Rublev kept the 26-year-old Hurkacz at bay to send them into a deciding third set. Rublev on Saturday described his angry outbursts in his semi-final win over Grigor Dimitrov as “ugly” and he was struggling again with his emotions at times. In contrast, Hurkacz went about his business with quiet determination.

Zheng Qinwen

Meanwhile, Zheng Qinwen swept to her second career title—her first on home soil—at the Zhengzhou Open on Sunday, winning a hard-fought three-set final and celebrating with an impromptu karaoke session at the trophy ceremony. The popular 21-year-old capped an incredible week with a 2-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory over Czech seventh-seed Barbora Krejcikova to become just the third Chinese woman to win a singles title at the WTA 500 level or higher, after Li Na and Zheng Saisai. This year marked the first time in WTA Tour history that three different Chinese women have won a singles title in a season, with Zhu Lin triumphing in Hua Hin, Wang Xiyu in Guangzhou and Zheng claiming her first trophy in Palermo in July.

After winning Asian Games gold on September 29, the 24th-ranked Zheng suffered a disappointing first-round loss at the China Open to Elena Rybakina, but she recovered remarkably by securing the biggest title of her young career 13 days later. “That was such a special experience to win my first 500 in China, especially in Zhengzhou,” said Zheng, who will return to the top 20 in the rankings on Monday. Zheng was the first to break as she leapt to a 2-0 advantage but Krejcikova grabbed the next five games and took a one-set lead in 39 minutes. Zheng’s first-serve percentage was a shockingly low 29 percent and the Chinese number one knew that statistic had to change for her to stand a chance against the former French Open champion.

The home favourite began the second set on the right foot, breaking from the start and carving out a 5-2 gap. Her first-serve percentage was a healthy 68 percent in that set, and she won 92 percent of those points. The final set was a tug of war, with the quality of play going up. Rallies got longer, and each player came up with incredible shots when their backs were against the wall. A brilliant crosscourt backhand winner gave Zheng a pair of break points in game seven and the 21-year-old inched ahead 4-3 on a Krejcikova double fault, her sixth of the match.

Krejcikova struck back but she could not hold off Zheng, who regained her advantage and served out the victory in style, with an impressive one-two punch and three service winners. “Definitely a tough day for me but it was a great week,” said Krejcikova, who was bidding for a third title of the season from four finals contested. Only Iga Swiatek (seven) and Aryna Sabalenka (six) have reached more singles finals than Krejcikova in 2023. – AFP