Getty Images / Jason Heidrich / Sportswire Icon / Pictured: Hubert Hurkacz
Hubert Hurkacz will travel directly from Marseille to Dubai, where the ATP 500 event will take place. The Polish tennis player has met his first opponent. There will be no shortage of big stars in the United Arab Emirates.
On Sunday, Hubert Hurkacz will play for the title in the ATP 250 indoor competition in Marseille. After finishing the performance in France, the native of Wrocław is due to move to the United Arab Emirates, where the ATP 500 event will take place. Last year, he reached the semi-finals in Dubai. Now it will not be easy for him to repeat this result.
A legend on the road to Hurkacz
Already in the first round, Hurkacz drew Andy Murray. The Briton showed a very good team in a hotly contested competition in Doha. The former ATP ranking leader and three-time Grand Slam champion won four duels in 3 sets and was only stopped in the final by Daniil Medvedev. Hurkacz and Murray will meet for the fourth time in the main series. So far, the record is in favor of the Pole and is 2-1.
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“Hubi” was ranked fifth in the tournament and qualified for the first quarter. If he wins the inaugural match, his opponent will be Alexei Popyrin or a tennis player from the playoffs. The Australian received a wild card from the organizers after Murray made it to the main event based on the ATP rankings.
Djokovic returns from health issues
Dubai’s biggest star will return to the game Novak Djokovic. During a recent press conference in Belgrade, the current ATP ranking leader admitted that he still did not feel 100%. ready after the wound has healed. Despite this, he will perform in the United Arab Emirates, where his first rival will be a qualifier contender. Then the Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor or the Frenchman Constant Lestienne could wait for the Serb.
In the quarter-finals, a meeting between Djokovic and Hurkacz is possible if the two men win two matches each. In turn, in the semi-finals, the opponent of the quarter-finalist of the first quarter of the tournament standings can be, among others, the champion of Doha, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, the Croatian Borna Coric and the Kazakh Aleksander Bublik, who will is doing well this week in Marseille.
The highest-ranked player in the bottom half is defending champion Andrei Rublev, who was ranked number two. His compatriot Karen Khachanov and Marseille finalist Benjamin Bonzi were also placed in his quarter. Slightly higher (in the third quarter) were the German Alexander Zverev and the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime. The first round match between Zverev and the talented Czech Jiri Lehecka promises to be interesting.
Zieliński is the only Pole in doubles
Hurkacz will not be the only Poles to appear in Dubai. Jan Zieliński, whose partner will be the Monegasque Hugo Nys, will perform in doubles. The 2023 Australian Open finalists will face American-French duo Maxime Cressy and Fabrice Martin in the first round. Zieliński and Nys, playing with the “four”, went to the lower part of the bracket, where the Croatian Ivan Dodig and the American Austin Krajicek are also marked with a “two”. The top seeds were titled Croatians Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić.
The competition in Dubai will start on Monday and last until Saturday. Hurkacz’s game with Murray is on Tuesday. The winner of the singles tournament will receive 500 ATP ranking points and a check for $533,000. dollars.
Dubai Duty Free Tennis ChampionshipsDubai, United Arab Emirates)
ATP 500, hard court, $2.855 million prize pool
Drawing of the main scale:
Novak Djokovic (Serbia, 1) – Q/LL
Tallon Griekspoor (Netherlands) – Constant Lestienne (France)
Alexei Popyrin (Australia, WC) – Q/LL
Andy Murray (UK) – Hubert Hurkacz (Poland, 5)
Daniil Medvedev (3) – Q/LL
Aleksander Bublik (Kazakhstan) – Q/LL
Thanasi Kokkinakis (Australia, CM) – Q/LL
Daniel Evans (UK) – Borna Coric (Croatia, 8)
Alexander Zverev (Germany, 7) – Jiri Lehecka (Czech Republic)
Emil Ruusuvuori (Finland) – Q/LL
Marc-Andrea Huesler (Switzerland) – Lorenzo Sonego (Italy)
Maxime Cressy (USA) – Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada, 4)
Karen Khachanov (6) – Botic van de Zandschulp (Netherlands)
Benjamin Bonzi (France) – Mikael Ymer (Sweden)
Malek Jaziri (Tunisia, CM) – Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (Spain)
Filip Krajinovic (Serbia) – Andrei Rublev (2)
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