The tournament proper was not even underway before Marc Polmans, an Australian ranked 140th, was disqualified for accidentally whacking a chair umpire in the face with a ball in a qualifying match. Then Frances Tiafoe, the American 10th seed, arrived late after missing his flight from Washington.

Meanwhile, the conditions at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena were the focus of hot debate. Daniil Medvedev, seeded second, was unhappy about the speed of the courts (“I don’t know what’s slower, here or Indian Wells,” he said, teasing the potential for another comedic outburst like the one he delivered in the California desert earlier this year). Taylor Fritz, on the other hand, felt the problem lay with the balls (“soft, slow, kind of dead”).

At a tournament where elite status counted for little, neither man had to worry about the situation for long. Nine of the top 10 seeds fell before the quarter-finals, Medvedev and Fritz among them. Not even Carlos Alcaraz, the Wimbledon champion, or Jannik Sinner, the man of the moment following his China Open victory, were immune. With the grand slam season done, and the ATP Finals yet to come, there was a palpable sense of the world’s top players limping towards the finish line at the dog end of an arduous campaign.

Amid the mayhem, Hubert Hurkacz, unfussy and unassuming, brought his customary blend of quiet diligence and thunderous serving to his work. A run to the last four in Cincinnati aside, it has not been the most memorable year for the 26-year-old former Wimbledon semi-finalist, whose sole title came six months ago at an ATP 250 event in Marseille. But after navigating his way to Sunday’s final with a poise and composure that eluded so many of his more celebrated peers, the powerful Pole changed all that, claiming the second Masters 1000 title of his career with a 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (10-8) win over Andrey Rublev, the lone standard bearer for the top 10.

“Andrey was playing some really good tennis, and I knew I had to produce the shots,” said Hurkacz after recovering from match point down to claim a dramatic victory.

“I was just trying to stay out there and compete as hard as I could, to keep positive self-talk and keep the belief until the end. At the end of the day, it’s a final, and you want to just give it all you’ve got out there.”

With both men outstanding on serve, the first two sets went by in barely an hour. Hurkacz secured the first courtesy of a break in the sixth game, while Rublev slammed a pair of searing forehand winners to claim a decisive breakthrough at the start of the second.

The decider came down to a tale of two aces.

The first came after Rublev was distracted by the movement of a courtside photographer, bringing up a match point for Hurkacz. The Russian fifth seed was warned by Renaud Lichtenstein, the French chair umpire, after furiously berating the offender, but managed to translate his rage into an untouchable 122mph serve before going on to hold for 5-5 with a finely crafted volley.

At that point, it felt as though the odds were beginning to favour Rublev. The 25-year-old Muscovite has bounced back from match point down against Holger Rune, Tallon Griekspoor, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Bernabe Zapata Miralles this season, and anguish was etched in Hurkacz’s features as he timidly netted a sliced backhand to fall 5-2 down in the climactic tiebreak.

But then came the second of those two aces, this time from Hurkacz, who battered down a 135mph effort to deny Rublev a second Masters 1000 success to sit alongside the title he won in Monte Carlo earlier this year. Another followed, his 21st of the day, and although Rublev gamely held off two more championship points, a netted forehand eventually left the Russian ploughing his racket into his thigh in frustration as Hurkacz raised his arms in triumph.

“I don’t know what to say, it’s been such a battle, especially emotionally,” said Hurkacz after claiming the seventh title of his career. “I had a match point before, Andrey hit an amazing serve. Andrey had a match point and then I had some match points, we were going back and forth and it was just such a tricky match.

“It was just one of those matches, you’ve just got to stay in it and keep believing till the end. I’m just super happy with how I managed at the end.”

The win leaves Hurkacz, who claimed his first Masters 1000 title in Miami two years ago, just 335 points behind eighth-placed Rune in the race to the ATP Finals in Turin. It also elevates the affable Pole to 11th in the rankings, his highest position since March and only two spots shy of his career best.

“He is a super great player and it’s so tough to beat him,” said Rublev, for whom it was hard not to feel sympathy. “With him, you can easily lose only [because of] the way he serves. As we could see today, he was serving unreal.”  

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The defending champion completed a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4 victory over Hubert Hurkacz on Monday after play was suspended the previous evening with only two sets completed because of the tournament’s 11pm curfew.

Andy Murray encountered a similar situation during his second-round defeat to Stefanos Tsitsipas, when the players were forced off court just as the former champion was gathering a head of steam. Wary of the potential for disruption, Murray had specifically asked not to be given the third slot on Centre Court. He made his feelings plain following his five-set defeat by pointedly sharing an article calling on the club to scrap the 1.30pm starts that have been in place for the past two years.

Djokovic, who will play for a third successive day when he faces Andrey Rublev on Tuesday for a place in the semi-finals, also voiced concerns about late finishes last year, pointing out that completing the day’s play under a closed roof had effectively created an indoor tournament. The Serbian second seed doubled down on that stance following his win over Hurkacz, pointing out that the contest began in still, humid and slippery conditions under the Centre Court roof, and resumed in a blustery wind that made it difficult to establish a consistent rhythm on serve..

“I think so,” said Djokovic, when asked if the 1.30pm start should be re-evaluated. “I agree with that. Obviously curfew is probably something that is much more difficult to change, I understand, because of the community and the residential area we are in. 

“[But] I think the matches could be pushed at least to start at 12pm. I think it would make a difference.”

While play on No 1 Court begins at 1pm, matches on Centre Court were moved back half an hour in 2021, when a 20-minute break between matches was also introduced. The latter decision was undertaken with spectators in mind, the All England Club reasoning that such gaps allowed the crowd to take a break between matches and “experience the whole of the championships”.

Sally Bolton, the chief executive of the All England Club, reiterated that defence following the suspension of Djokovic’s match on Sunday, denying that the Wimbledon schedule is shaped by the demands of broadcasters eager to screen primetime entertainment. 

“Every year we look at everything, and we get feedback from all of our guest groups, from the player groups and from all of our stakeholders,” said Bolton. “As we always do, we will have a look at that beyond this year’s championships.  

“Historically, we’ve always started play on our show courts around early afternoon. And that’s very much about ensuring people have the opportunity to get on court, so as much as is possibly the case, we have full courts for when the players will come. That’s still absolutely our intention.  

“The other thing we think about carefully is the fact that when people buy tickets and come to Wimbledon, they want to experience a day at the championships. That involves seeing some play on outside courts, perhaps getting something to eat, getting some strawberries and cream, we understand that our guests want that whole day.

“The broadcasters are one of the stakeholders that we consult as we put together all of the plans for the Championships but no, they’re not having a direct input into start time on court,” added Bolton. 

“As far as the TV audience is concerned, matches are happening at a time when they’re accessible to people. We’re seeing viewing figures that are beyond our expectations and beyond previous years.”

Be that as it may, the impact of the tournament’s late starts on the players has been undeniable. Djokovic, who completed his third-round win over Stan Wawrinka under the Centre Court roof just 14 minutes before the curfew, emphasised his respect for Wimbledon’s continued observance of certain traditions while outlining some of the undertainties posed by the vagaries of the schedule.

“Once the time is over 8pm, you know that there’s a high probability you won’t finish your match,” said the seven-time champion. That was the case against Wawrinka and Hurkacz. Both of the matches started almost actually at 9pm. 

“I warmed up for both of those matches around 1pm, something like this. Should you go back to the accommodation, the house nearby, or should you stay? Yesterday I decided to stay. I stayed basically for seven hours waiting for my match to start.

“It’s tricky, especially if there are a lot of players and a lot of stuff, members of the respective players’ teams, and they all occupy spaces for rest. It’s not easy to find a corner where you can just be by yourself. 

“Wimbledon has been so attached, I would say connected, with its tradition and history in not changing certain things, which I respect a lot. I think there are wonderful things to keep with history, like the defending champion going out on the first day.

“There are different ways that I’m sure they will address this issue and try to avoid having these kind of problems in the future.”

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With just over a fortnight to go until he begins his title defence at Melbourne Park, Nadal was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Cameron Norrie as Spain faced Great Britain at the United Cup in Sydney on Saturday. 

“Not a disaster at all,” declared the 22-time grand slam champion, who was generous in his praise for Norrie while acknowledging the need to sharpen his own movement, consistency and decision-making.

But there was a hint of irritation from Nadal afterwards when asked if he was starting to find life on tour heavy going. Clearly eager to scotch speculation about his future, the Spaniard replied pointedly that he was in town to play tennis.

“When the day arrives that [I] go out on court and say, ‘That’s getting hard,’ [it] is the day to say goodbye,” said Nadal with a smile belying his evident distaste for the line of questioning. “I don’t want to. 

“The only reason that [it] makes sense to keep playing [is] if I really enjoy what I do, and if I really feel it. If I don’t feel it, I mean, I did much more than what I ever dreamed. But either way, for me, I lost my match. That’s it, no? 

“Every time that I am coming to a press conference, [it] seems that I have to retire. So you are very, very interested in my retirement. I mean, for the moment, that’s not the case. When this day arrives, I’m going to let you know, guys. Don’t keep going with the retirement [questions], because I’m here to keep playing tennis.”

Nadal, an Olympic gold medallist in singles and doubles and the linchpin of five triumphant Davis Cup campaigns, has traditionally thrived when representing his country. But after an encouraging start to his first official match since November’s ATP Finals, the Majorcan was slowly reeled in by Norrie, who hailed the victory as the finest of his career.

“I think it was, especially on ranking and beating a guy like Rafa as the competitor that he is,” said Norrie, the world No 14, who was without win a against Nadal in four previous meetings. 

“I know it’s his first match of the year, but it was a sick win. He absolutely chopped me the last five or four times I played him, so it is nice to get him once now. I really played well and held my nerve throughout the match.”

Norrie’s win, which was followed in short space by an outstanding 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory for 23-year-old Katie Swan over Nuria Párrizas Díaz, ranked 70th, gave Britain the platform for a 4-1 win over Spain. 

Dan Evans sealed Britain’s place in this Wednesday’s playoff final against either the US, Germany or the Czech Republic with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-3 win over Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Harriet Dart was earlier beaten by world No 13 Paula Badosa, who turned to pickle juice to overcome cramping en route to a 6-7 (6-8), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 win, before Dart and Jonny O’Mara defeated Jessica Bouzas Maneiro and David Vega Hernandez 3-6, 6-2, 10-5 in the concluding mixed doubles.

Evans afterwards paid tribute to the role played by Tim Henman, the British team captain, in driving his side to victory.

“We all grew up watching Tim, who is obviously a very good tennis player – a lot better than basically everyone on the team. He knows so much,” said Evans.  

“It’s amazing to hear his insight into the match. A lot of the time it can be a bit different to what we might be seeing. You sort of trust that, and it really does help.”

The inaugural mixed-team event consists of six groups of three teams playing across a trio of cities – Sydney, Perth and Brisbane. The two group winners from each location will play a “city final” against each other for a place in the last four, with the best-performing runner-up from those matches clinching the fourth semi-final spot.

In Brisbane, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz combined to complete a 4-1 win for Poland over Kazakhstan with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Zhibek Kulambayeva and Grigoriy Lomakin. The match was notable for an outrageous around-the-netpost winner from Swiatek.

Hurkacz earlier defeated Alexander Bublik 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 6-3 before Magda Linette gave Poland an unassailable 3-1 lead with a 6-2, 6-1 against Kulambayeva. On day one, Swiatek had handed Poland a 1-0 advantage with a 6-1, 6-3 victory Yulia Putintseva before Timofey Skatov defeated Daniel Michalski 7-6 (9-7), 6-2 to level.

Agnieszka Radwanska’s side will now face Switzerland for a place in the semi-finals, with the top-ranked Swiatek to face Belinda Bencic, the world No 12, in her second singles match of the season on Monday.  

“She’s such an experienced player, and she has a different game style than most of the girls. She’s hitting the ball pretty early and you have to be ready for that, especially on a fast surface,” said Swiatek. “I’m gonna do everything to win.”

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Deep into uncharted territory after winning 15 of his last 16 matches, an exhausted Kyrgios hit the wall against Hubert Hurkacz in Montreal, suffering his first loss since the Wimbledon final as the Polish eighth seed prevailed 7-6 (7-4), 6-7, (5-7) 6-1.

Kyrgios, 27, has maintained a hectic pace since his defeat to Novak Djokovic at the All England Club, claiming the Atlanta Open doubles title with Thanasi Kokkinakis despite withdrawing from the singles with a knee injury, then completing a clean sweep of singles and doubles in Washington. It was a monumental effort by the Australian even before he toppled Daniil Medvedev, the world No 1 and defending champion, earlier this week, but it has taken a physical and mental toll that was evident in his subdued mood against Hurkacz.

Kyrgios whistled through his service games, barely pausing between deliveries as the ever-gentlemanly Hurkacz rushed to observe the rule that states “the receiver must play to the reasonable pace of the server”.

Not for the first time in his career, Kyrgios explored the boundaries of what might be deemed reasonable, although Hurkacz hardly seemed to mind as he matched the Canberran blow for devastating blow. The Pole won the first set on a tiebreak before Kyrgios, weary but determined, replied in kind.  

Midway through the second breaker, Kyrgios was helped on his way by an outrageous stroke of good fortune, the ball bouncing off the net tape twice before trickling over to Hurkacz’s side. But just as the momentum appeared to have shifted, Hurkacz left the court for an eight-minute comfort break, completely knocking the wind out of his opponent’s sails.

The Pole was within the rules, but Kyrgios’s displeasure was evident. Tellingly, however, Kyrgios could barely even summon the energy to complain. The tone of his exchange with the chair umpire, Adel Nour, was conversational rather than anarchic – even if, predictably, his language left something to be desired.

“What does the rule say?” Kyrgios inquired. “I didn’t need to change clothes. No one needs to change clothes, no one. You don’t have to. My body cools down. 

“What do you want me to do? We’re not fucking machines, bro. We can’t just go and stop, go and stop.”

Kyrgios, who fell away alarmingly in the decider, later allayed fears of serious injury, reiterating his suggestion that the delay had simply caused him to stiffen up.

“My body hasn’t been feeling great the last week,” said Kyrgios, who stretched out his lower back frequently early in his match against Medvedev and clutched at the area just a point into his joust with Hurkacz. 

“I was feeling the abdominal a little bit before the match, my knees hurt. Obviously, when you’re playing and you stop playing for like five to 10 minutes, it doesn’t help your body. My body was so stiff after that, I couldn’t move properly. My abdominal was hurting.  

“I mean, it’s within the rules. I’m not going to complain. I completely stiffened up. After the second set, like I’m not a machine, I’m a human. My knees were sore, my back was sore, my abdominal was sore. I was trying to stay moving, but I just stiffened up.”

It is not the first time this week that a bathroom break has caused controversy. Casper Ruud, who set up a semi-final meeting with Hurkacz after inflicting  a 6-1, 6-2 defeat on home hope Felix Auger-Aliassime, received a code violation during his fourth round victory over Roberto Bautista Agut after leaving the court for 11 minutes to change his clothes. Ruud fell foul of chair umpire Fergus Murphy after not only exceeding the allotted time, but also failing to use the facilities. 

“You have to go to the bathroom when you say you’re going to the bathroom,” Murphy told Ruud, who will be fined for his troubles. “When you don’t go, I have to give you a warning for not going.”

Hurkacz, who won in Miami last year and is through to the fourth Masters 1000 semi-final of his career, is the only player left in the draw to have won a title at this level. In the lower half, Britain’s Dan Evans defeated Tommy Paul 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 to set up a last-four showdown with Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta, who defeated Jack Draper 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

In the women’s event in Toronto, Simona Halep, the resurgent 15th seed, beat Coco Gauff 6-4, 7-6 (7-2). She will meet Jessica Pegula in the last four after the American seventh seed came through 6-3, 6-3 against Yulia Putintseva of Kazakhstan.

In the other half, Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil followed up her career-best victory over world No 1 Iga Swiatek with a battling 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Belinda Bencic, the 12th seed. She will play last year’s finalist Karolina Pliskova, the 14th seed, who defeated China’s Qinwen Zheng 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

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“My achilles still isn’t right, so I’ll see you next time,” the former world No 1 wrote on Twitter, shortly after her name appeared on an updated withdrawals’ list published by the tournament.

“Trying to find the positives in a negative situation, so all love,” Osaka later added on Instagram, alongside photos of her undergoing ultrasound treatment and acupuncture on the injury. “But there goes my grass dreams.”

Osaka, who has never been beyond the third round at the All England Club, has not played at Wimbledon since 2019. The 24-year-old withdrew last year to take time away from tennis following the furore caused by her decision to skip media duties at the French Open.

Osaka’s withdrawal comes after she suggested last month that she might not play at Wimbledon in light of the WTA’s decision to strip the event of ranking points in retaliation for the tournament’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players.

“The decision is kind of affecting my mentality going into grass, like I’m not 100% sure if I’m going to go there,” Osaka said following her opening-round defeat to Amanda Anisimova at the French Open. 

“I would love to go just to get some experience on the grass courts, but at the same time, for me, it’s kind of like – I don’t want to say pointless, no pun intended – but I’m the type of player that gets motivated by seeing my ranking go up, stuff like that. I think the intention was really good, but the execution is kind of all over the place.

Osaka, who is ranked 43rd in the world, added: “I feel like if I play Wimbledon without points, it’s more like an exhibition. I know this isn’t true, right? But my brain just like feels that way. Whenever I think something is like an exhibition, I just can’t go at it 100%.”

The 2014 Wimbledon finalist Eugenie Bouchard, whose name appeared alongside Osaka’s on the list of withdrawals, likewise cited concerns about the absence of ranking points as she returns from the shoulder injury that has kept her out since March of last year. 

“I have decided to withdraw from Wimbledon due to the WTA’s decision to not award ranking points at this year’s Championships,” said Bouchard, who would have needed to use her protected ranking to enter.

“Due to my shoulder surgery, I get a limited number of protected ranking [PR] entries. As much as I love Wimbledon and skipping it makes me sad, using a PR entry at a tournament with no ranking points doesn’t make sense.

“I must choose wisely and use my PR entries at tournaments that will help me get back to where I want to be.”

In Berlin, Belinda Bencic survived an epic match against Maria Sakkari, prevailing 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-4 in three hours and seven minutes to reach the final for a second successive year. 

“I thought that was an incredible match,” said Bencic, the eighth seed. “We both kind of pushed really hard, we both didn’t give each other anything. I think it was high quality, of course we held our serves as much as we could, and I really felt like we put on a show.”

Bencic, who lost out to Liudmila Samsonova in the final last year, will play Ons Jabeur on Sunday after the Tunisian top seed saw off French Open finalist Coco Gauff 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

Matteo Berrettini, the defending champion, will play Filip Krajinovic of Serbia in the final at Queen’s Club. 

Berrettini, who is aiming to win a second successive title on grass following his victory over Andy Murray in Stuttgart last weekend, came through a rain-delayed match against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-3. The Italian second seed, a finalist at Wimbledon last summer, has won all but one of his past 20 matches on grass. 

“It feels unbelievable, I’m really happy” said Berrettini. “Today was a really tough match, we stopped for the rain, I had a lot of chances, I got broken when I was serving for the first set, windy again today – so really tough to play, but I think I played my best match of the week.”

Krajinovic, meanwhile, who had never won a tour-level match on grass before this week, upset seventh seed Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-3 to reach the fifth final of his career. The 30-year-old has lost the previous four.

“It’s just a dream for me,” said the 48th-ranked Krajinovic. “To be honest, I don’t like to play on grass. Every year, I find a way to skip the tournaments, just coming to Wimbledon, losing first round, and for the last 10 years it’s been like that. Maybe it will change, I don’t know. I’ve started to like it, actually, so let’s see how it’s going to go.”

In Halle, Daniil Medvedev is also through to his second grass court final in as many weeks after defeating Oscar Otte of Germany 7-6 (7-3), 6-3. Medvedev, who was beaten by Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands in ‘s-Hertogenbosch a week ago, will face Hubert Kurkacz in the final after the Polish fifth seed beat Nick Kyrgios 4-6, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-4).

“I didn’t play well in Halle last year, so I’m happy that this year I managed to raise my level,” said Medvedev, the world No 1, who lost to Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany in the opening round last year.

“As I’ve always said, I love playing on grass, so I’m happy to show to myself that I’m capable of being in the final of one of the greatest tournaments, especially on grass.”

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Hurkacz, who moved into the last four with a 7-6 (9-7), 6-3 victory, has made typically understated progress at Miami Gardens, quietly navigating the backwaters of the outside courts despite his status as the defending champion.

Here, however, in his first match in the main stadium, the towering Pole offered the schedulers a reminder of the qualities that carried him to the title last year as he dominated on serve, discomfited Medvedev with the quality of his returns and grasped the nettle in the forecourt to seal his 10th successive win at the event.

“I think the return was crucial,” said Hurkacz, the eighth seed. “I was able to make a lot of returns and get some free points on my serve. Having rallies with Daniil is fun, but they get long. It is good I was able to get some free points.”

For Medvedev, it was a dispiriting conclusion to what has been an underwhelming North American hard-court swing. Needing to reach the semi-finals to reclaim the top ranking from Novak Djokovic, the Russian once again fell short of his best at a venue where the slow, high-bouncing surface is no more to his liking than the heavy balls, which he described at one point as “garbage”. He has never been beyond the last eight in Miami, and here his difficulties were compounded not only by the excellence of Hurkacz, but also by the cloying humidity that frequently left him breathless and bent double over his racket as the second set wore on. 

The brutal nature of the tussle was not entirely unexpected. The pair had previously faced each other on three occasions, all last season, and each contest was a humdinger. Hurkacz edged a five-set, three-hour epic at Wimbledon, while Medvedev twice fought back from a set down to exact revenge in Toronto and Turin. This time around it was Hurkacz who seized the early initiative, an error-strewn start from Medvedev costing him five of the first seven games. Yet Medvedev had recovered from a similar position against Jenson Brooksby in the previous round and, when Hurkacz faltered as he served for the opener at 5-3, it seemed another comeback might be on the cards. 

Sure enough, Medvedev hung on to force a tiebreak, twice fending off set point. But at 7-7, Hurkacz benefited from a major stroke of good fortune as a mishit forehand dipped sharply to bamboozle Medvedev at the net. This time the Pole made no mistake, ripping a forehand winner behind his serve to seal the set. Five games later, when he was broken after a gruelling, 11-minute service game in which he saved five break points, Medvedev’s problems deepened.

“After the tough points, I felt that my breath was not recovering fast enough,” said the Russian, who received medication from the physio as the contest neared its conclusion. “Second set, at one moment, I just felt strange. I [do] not often feel like this, but sometimes it happens when it’s hot. [I] don’t know the actual reason, maybe the heat. But I was feeling super dizzy, tired, and there was this long game where I couldn’t serve any more.”

Medevedev’s discomfort continued after the match, when the tournament doctor gave him electrolytes and told him to get up after he began cramping. “It was good advice to stand up, because I was like sitting down, really tired, and then suddenly every muscle just went cramp, cramp, cramp, cramp. I was like a fish on the sofa.”

There were no such problems for Hurkacz, who will face Carlos Alcaraz in the last four after the Spanish teenager fought back from a set down to beat Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

“I spend a lot of time here in Florida, so I’m used to those kind of conditions,” said the 25-year-old. “I think that definitely helped and maybe played a little bit of a part in the match.”

In the bottom half, sixth seed Casper Ruud will attempt to reach his first final at this level against Francisco Cerundolo, the unseeded Argentine whose fairytale run in Miami has included wins over Frances Tiafoe and Gael Monfils.

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Pushed all the way by Hurkacz three months ago at the Montreal Masters, where he needed a final-set tiebreak to avenge his five-set defeat to the Pole at Wimbledon, Medvedev was doubtless under no illusions about the scale of the challenge posed by his big-serving opponent in the lightning-fast conditions at the Pala Alpitour. Even so, when he found himself a set down having barely put a foot wrong, the Russian must have wondered what more he could do to break the resistance of a man who marked his debut at the season-ending event with a performance of remarkable poise and assurance. 

Medvedev had served immaculately, reaching the tiebreak without facing a single break point, and committed just four unforced errors. Hurkacz, however, not only matched those numbers but also showed a greater willingness to force the issue, attacking the net regularly. Some lovely reflex volleying earned Hurkacz the early advantage in the breaker, and although Medvedev quickly recovered the mini-break, a deftly angled effort at the net gave the Pole the platform for what proved a decisive breakthrough. 

It was a recipe for frustration, but the phlegmatic Medvedev was not about to hit the panic button. Instead, minor tactical adjustments were the order of the day, the Russian adopting a position closer to the baseline and showing a greater willingness to take his chances at the net. He was soon rewarded. With Hurkacz serving at 0-1, Medvedev pounced on the Pole’s second serve to fashion two break points, the second of which he converted after a deep backhand forced an error. That was enough to earn Medvedev the set and, having hit upon the winning formula, he wasted no time in implementing it again at the start of the decider, returning with relentless consistency to pile on the pressure. Down 15-40 once more, Hurkacz saved the first break point with an ace, only to be undone by a searing forehand return that set up Medvedev for an easy overhead.  

“It was a very tight match,” said Medvedev. “I think a lot of matches are going to be like this, because it’s a super-fast surface. As you saw, I had zero break points to save, yet managed to lose a set. We played three sets in two hours, which is really fast. I’m just happy that, in the two games in the match where I had break points, I managed to break him. That was the only key to the match, because everything was going so fast that you cannot think, you cannot put tactics in place, you just need to try to put one more ball in court than him.”

And so Medvedev won, taking care of business on his own serve to ensure that Hurkacz never had a chance to break, while making the most of his own chances in the only two games where he held break points. “Daniil’s an amazing player and he plays great tennis for the whole match,” said Hurkacz. “He doesn’t have dips in his game, that makes him such a tough opponent.”

The evening session brought together another duo not noted for their timidity with ball in hand, with former champion Alexander Zverev taking on home favourite Matteo Berrettini. For a set, all went to script. Zverev banged down 10 aces, Berrettini five, and with neither man able to convert what few opportunities came their way – most notably Berrettini, who twice held a set point on the German’s serve in the twelfth game – the opening set culminated with a tiebreak. Roared on by the locals, Berrettini opened up a 5-3 lead only to be slowly reeled in by Zverev, who fired a superb forehand return on to the baseline to clinch the breaker 9-7 on his third set point. 

A thoroughly entertaining contest took a cruel twist early in the second set, however, as Berrettini suffered an abdominal injury. The Italian, who was sidelined for two months by a similar issue following this year’s Australian Open, was in obvious distress as he turned to his support box before taking a lengthy medical timeout. He attempted to play one further point, lashing a forehand wide before slowly making his way to the net with his head in his hands. With Zverev leading 7-6 (9-7), 1-0, his evening – and possibly his tournament – was over.

“It’s probably the worst day that I had on a tennis court in my life,” said Berrettini, who added that he was unsure whether the injury was the same one that afflicted him earlier in the year.

“The atmosphere was one of the best that I ever felt in my life and that’s why probably I feel so bad right now. The thought of not finishing the match, that I wasn’t able to finish the match, is killing me.

“So it’s just really tough to face it. Obviously, I really hope it’s nothing bad, but today I couldn’t play, I couldn’t finish it, and I really wanted to. I really wanted to enjoy every second, that’s what we said at the beginning with my team, and the worst thing that could happen, happened.”

The post Joy for Medvedev, misery for Berrettini as ATP Finals begin appeared first on Love Game Tennis.

But small steps can be significant, too, particularly for a player with a metal hip, and it was just such progress that Murray made in the opening round of the Vienna Open as he overcame Hubert Hurkacz 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3 to claim his first victory over a top-10 player in more than a year. 

It may not be the biggest win of Murray’s career, but it will have felt especially sweet against a player who had narrowly bettered him in their only two previous meetings. As is often the case, Murray went about things the long way around, missing a match point in the second set and falling behind early in the decider, but that will be of little consequence to the former world No 1 as he contemplates a second-round appointment with Spanish teenager Carlos Alcaraz, a 6-4, 6-3 winner over Britain’s Dan Evans. 

The 10^th-ranked Hurkacz has been a thorn in Murray’s side in recent months, defeating him in Cincinnati and Metz to prolong a string of near misses for the Scot against the world’s best. But here was material proof of the steady progress Murray has made since suffering a dispiriting defeat to Denis Shapovalov in the third round of Wimbledon.

“[My movement] is something that, with each match, I’ve started to do a little better with,” said Murray, twice the champion at an event where he is now on a nine-match winning streak. “A lot of my movement is about anticipation, and when you’re not playing many matches, like I haven’t in the last few years, you’re just not quite reading the play as well. Now, with each match and each week that I’m playing, I’m starting to see the ball a little earlier, starting to react a little bit quicker, and that means I’m going to chase more balls down and move a little bit better.”

That was never more apparent than in the seventh game of the second set when Murray, seeking his second break of the match, raced on to a seemingly unreachable ball to rifle a forehand pass beyond the incredulous Hurkacz. It was a shot effectively worth two points to Murray, Hurkacz ballooning a sitter beyond the baseline on the next point, but the fifth-seeded Pole steadied the ship with some fine play from the back of the court, eventually forcing a tiebreak.

When Hurkacz saved a match point at 5-6 in the breaker with a searing backhand winner, calmly going on to square the match with a big second serve and some solid defensive play, it looked as though the Wimbledon semi-finalist might frustrate Murray for a third time in succession. The alarm bells were becoming deafening for Murray as the contest entered its third hour. Broken in the ninth game of the opening set following an unsuccessful attempt to run around a penetrating backhand return from Murray, Hurkacz had switched to a more aggressive key and was now riding a seemingly irresistible wave of momentum.

Time and again of late the world No 156 has squandered opportunities against the sport’s elite, and history looked to be repeating itself as he double-faulted to concede the opening game of the decider. But some typically dogged defending provided him with the platform for an immediate break back, and when Hurkacz hit three wayward forehands in succession to drop serve again in the sixth game, Murray had the decisive breakthrough he needed. Three games later, he finished with a flourish, slamming down his 10th ace of the evening.

“It’s a good feeling,” said Murray, who will now look to repeat his recent victory over Alcaraz, the world No 42, at Indian Wells. “It was obviously a very tight match, it could have gone either way. I had some chances in the second set, didn’t get it, and then in the third set I was obviously a break down and he’s not an easy guy to break, especially indoors. Thankfully I managed to get the break back in the next game, and from there I probably deserved to get over the line. It was a good win in tough circumstances.”

For Hurkacz, defeat represents a setback to his hopes of qualifying for the season-ending ATP Finals. Ranked ninth in the qualification race – which, in the absence of eighth-placed Rafael Nadal, would be good enough to secure the final berth in Turin – the Pole stands just 110 points clear of Jannik Sinner.

Fresh from his victory over Diego Schwartzman in the final of the European Open, the 11th-ranked Sinner will overtake Hurkacz with a deep run in Vienna. The Italian seventh seed will face Reilly Opelka in the opening round.  

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Apparently, this guy is quite good. Won some big tournament on grass a few weeks ago. Did okay on the clay at Roland Garros, too. Oh, and didn’t he win the Australian Open back in February? Come to think of it, that’s three different surfaces. Must be pretty useful. They say he once held all four grand slam titles simultaneously, you know; he must wonder what all this calendar year fuss is about. The man to beat, as he almost invariably is. 

What he says: “I have to hit one ball at a time, try to be in the moment – have a guiding star, in a way.”

2) Daniil Medvedev

Rumour has it there’s an angry octopus out there who wants his tentacles back. If he could see what fine use Medvedev has been making of them, maybe he’d think again. The Russian’s trademark flurry of arms and legs has carried him to his most consistent season so far in the majors. The Monaco-based Muscovite made the final in Melbourne, the last eight in Paris – where he’d never previously won a match – and, also for the first time, the last 16 at Wimbledon. Granted, a quarter-final loss at the Olympics was disappointing. But this is his favourite stretch of the season. Two years ago, Medvedev made four consecutive finals in North America, culminating in a US Open final defeat to Rafael Nadal; this year, he’s already won the Toronto Masters and made the semis at Cincinnati. A second final at Flushing Meadows would be no surprise. Just don’t point a camera in his face.

What he says: “I’m sure Novak wants 45 slams, playing until he is 55 … We’re here to not let him win the US Open. If I talk just for myself, I want to win the US Open.” 

3) Stefanos Tsitsipas

Blessed with the flowing locks and chiselled features of a Greek god, Tsitsipas could have been a catwalk model. Maybe he still will be, given his habit of nipping off court for a change of attire at the first available opportunity. (Quick tip: get a dresser, Stef; have you seen how fast real models change clothes?) There is substance to the style, though, as evidenced by a second semi-final at the Australian Open and, in Paris, a first major final. Up to a career-high third in the rankings, the Greek made it to the last four in Toronto and Cincinnati and looks ready for a deep run. Then again, he’s never previously been beyond round three, and faces a tough opener against Andy Murray, the 2012 champion and former world No 1.      

What he says: “I wouldn’t trust anyone with cutting my hair.”

4) Alexander Zverev

Having followed up his victory at the Tokyo Olympics by winning the Cincinnati Masters, Zverev arrives in New York – where he came within two points of the title in the final against Dominic Thiem last year – with genuine title pretensions. How far he will be affected by recent allegations about his private life remains to be seen.

What he says: “[Last year] fuelled gas into the fire a little bit because I was two points away from winning it … I am very, very motivated.”

5) Andrey Rublev

When Rublev made the Cincinnati Masters final after beating Medvedev for the first time in five attempts, he likened it to graduating from university. His compatriot has defeated him in two of the three major quarter-finals he has reached, so it was an important test to pass. Rublev fell short of his masters in Cincy, where he was handily beaten by Zverev in the final, and it may be too soon for the doctoral-level assignment of winning a first slam. A lovely ball-striker, the 23-year-old has struggled to reproduce his devastating three-set form over five sets, but he is steadily growing in experience and self-belief, and his last-eight runs at the US and Australian Opens speak of a player with genuine hard-court pedigree. Expect fun, fearsome forehands and perhaps even a place in the last four.

What he says: “The game is there, so it’s not about the game.”

6) Matteo Berrettini

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Djokovic seems to have taken the old adage to heart, if the sight of him practising with Berrettini in the Arthur Ashe stadium this week is anything to go by. Having pushed the world No 1 hard at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, where he made his first major final, could Berrettini finally get the job done in NYC? In the plus column, the towering Italian has shown he can be a contender in Queens by reaching the semis two years ago, and should be high on confidence after his run in SW19. The big question mark surrounds his inactivity since Wimbledon, where he was hampered by a thigh injury that subsequently forced him out of the Olympics. Berrettini has played just two matches since, edging a close three-setter against Albert Ramos Vinolas in Cincinnati before losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime. But if he makes his projected quarter-final against Djokovic and manages to keep it close, those booming serves and bazooka-like forehands will pose a genuine threat to the Serb’s grand slam prospects.

What he says: “Concrete is the surface on which there is the greatest struggle, it will be a tough tournament.”

7) Denis Shapovalov

Since making his breakthrough run to a first major semi-final at Wimbledon, Shapovalov has made more impact as a fledgling rap artist than as a tennis player. The Canadian has not won a match since early July, losing his openers in Gstaad, Toronto and Cincinnati, but has somehow found time to make a song entitled Night Train and release it on a newly-created Instagram account. A new MC in NYC? It’ll never catch on.

What he says: “In this sport, anyone can beat anyone on any given day.”

8) Casper Ruud

The ever-steady Norwegian has been on a tear since Wimbledon, capturing three titles in three weeks in Bastad, Gstaad and Kitzbühel. All were on clay, and Ruud is not oblivious to criticism that he needs to post similar results on other surfaces. In Toronto, he mischievously signed a TV camera “hard courts” en route to the quarter-finals. He also reached the last eight the following week in Cincinnati. He has only once reached the fourth round of a slam, but that will surely change before too long. Watch this space.

What he says: “My best slam result is from this year’s Australian Open, so I think [hard courts are] a surface that also can suit my game well, even though this year has been mainly clay, clay, clay.”

9) Pablo Carreno Busta

The Spaniard has reached two semi-finals at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic, who was infamously disqualified against Carreno Busta last year – and more recently lost to him in the bronze medal match at the Olympics – will surely be praying he doesn’t make a third. PCB’s path to the last four is far from straightforward. Drawn in the same quarter as Shapovalov, a player he has beaten in all but one of their five previous meetings, Carreno Busta would potentially face Zverev in the last eight. Should that happen, he will not want for motivation after blowing a two-set semi-final lead against the German last year. With Reilly Opelka, Sebastian Korda, Lloyd Harris and Olympic silver medallist Karen Khachanov also lurking, the variables in this quarter are plentiful. But a rematch against Djokovic, with the grand slam on the line, would certainly be intriguing. 

What he says: “I am feeling [like] a better player, I am feeling more confidence on court.”

10) Hubert Hurkacz

Between winning a maiden Masters title at the Miami Open and reaching a first major semi-final at Wimbledon, it’s been quite the year for Hurkacz. He’s even discovered something quicker than his 150mph first serve: a McLaren GT, which tops out at 203mph, with which he’s been spending some quality time in Manhattan. That’s what happens when you start making waves at the top of the men’s game: people give you nice cars to play with. Don’t imagine it’ll go to the gentle giant’s head though. The 6ft 5in Pole is widely regarded as one of the most unassuming characters on the tour, about as far removed from the stereotypical New Yorker as could be imagined. Perhaps that’s why he’s never been beyond the second round at Flushing Meadows. Seeded to meet Berrettini in the last 16, he may struggle to improve greatly on that record this year.

What he says: “Can’t complain about my ride to the US Open this year.” 

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