Australian Open: Hurkacz through to last 16 for second year in a row
Hubert Hurkacz defeated Ugo Humbert 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 on Saturday and will play the winner of the match between French wildcard Arthur Cazaux and Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor, the No 28 seed, in the next round
Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz, the No 9 seed, advanced to the last 16 of the Australian Open by winning against Frenchman Ugo Humbert, the No 21 seed, 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (4), 6-3 at Melbourne Park on Saturday.
The Pole hit 47 winners including 17 aces (as compared to 31 winners, including 4 aces for Humbert) in the two-hour, 47-minute contest.
With the win, he improves to 3-0 lifetime against the Frenchman.
Hurkacz is through to the fourth round in Melbourne for the second year in a row and it is the fourth time that he has moved into the second week at a Grand Slam – with his best performance coming at Wimbledon in 2021 where he famously beat Roger Federer on his way to the semis.
Hurkacz, ranked No 9, will play French wildcard Arthur Cazaux in the fourth round. This will be the first meeting between the two players.
Ahead of his win today, the Pole beat Australian qualifier Omar Jasika (7-6 (4), 6-4, 6-2) and qualifier Jakub Mensik (6-7 (9), 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3).
Humbert, ranked No 20, defeated Belgian qualifier David Goffin (6-2, 7-5, 5-7, 6-3) and edged out Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (6-2, 5-7, 6-1, 7-6 (3)) earlier in the tournament.
Melbourne (Grand Slam), other third-round matches (Melbourne Park, hard, USD 58,910,000):
- Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Juncheng Shang (WC): 6-1, 6-1, 1-0 ret.
- Miomir Kecmanovic beat Tommy Paul (14): 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-0
- Andrey Rublev (5) beat Sebastian Korda (29): 6-2, 7-6 (6), 6-4
- Alex De Minaur (10) beat Flavio Cobolli (Q): 6-3, 6-3, 6-1
- Novak Djokovic (1) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry (30): 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (2)
- Adrian Mannarino (20) beat Ben Shelton (16): 7-6 (4), 1-6, 6-7 (2), 6-3, 6-4
- Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) beat Luca Van Assche: 6-3, 6-0, 6-4
- Taylor Fritz (12) beat Fabian Marozsan: 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2
- Jannik Sinner (4) beat Sebastian Baez (26): 6-0, 6-1, 6-3
- Karen Khachanov (15) beat Tomas Machac: 6-4, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 7-6 (5)
- Alexander Zverev vs. Alex Michelsen
- Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Daniil Medvedev
- Cameron Norrie vs. Casper Ruud
- Grigor Dimitrov vs. Nuno Borges
- Arthur Cazaux vs. Tallon Griekspoor