Masterful Hurkacz saves five match points to defeat Kokkinakis in wild Miami ride

Hubert Hurkacz dug deep to pull out an epic victory over Thanasi Kokkinakis, the 2021 champion saving five match points to capture an improbable 6-7 (10), 7-6 (7), 7-6 (6), win on Grandstand on Saturday in Miami.

The Pole saved three match points in the second set tiebreaker but it appeared as though they would be all for naught as Kokkinakis has another two match points in the final set tiebreak.

But Hurkacz came up with a remarkable return winner to save the fourth match point, then went on to save the fifth before he locked down his victory in three hours and 31 minutes.

The battle was the longest three-set match of 2023.

“It’s tough to explain for me. I knew I was playing good tennis, I mean Thanasi [was] as well,” Hurkacz said on court after his victory. “I was just trying to stay in there and compete, play some good shots. Either way, if I won or I lost — obviously I wanted to win so, so much — but either way, should have been happy with myself.”

Hurkacz, this year’s Marseille champion, improves to 14-6 on the season.

It’s not the first heartbreaker that Kokkinakis has lost this year. He fell against Andy Murray in a five hour and 45-minute epic at the Australian Open that ended after 4 AM.

Remarkably, Kokkinakis saved three match points against Zizou Bergs to reach the second round in Miami.

Hurkacz, ranked No 9, will face the winner of the match between Frenchman Adrian Mannarino and American Ben Shelton, the No 32 seed, next.

Kokkinakis, ranked No 94, edged out Belgian wildcard Zizou Bergs (4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7)) in the previous round of the Miami Open.

Miami Masters, other second-round results (Hard Rock Stadium, hard, USD 8.800.000, most recent results first):

• Yosuke Watanuki vs. Frances Tiafoe
• Gregoire Barrere vs. Cameron Norrie
• Adrian Mannarino vs. Ben Shelton
• Daniil Medvedev (4) beat Roberto Carballes Baena: 6-1, 6-2
• Karen Khachanov (14) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 6-1, 3-6, 6-3
• Lorenzo Sonego beat Daniel Evans (23): 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Felix Auger-Aliassime (5) beat Thiago Monteiro: 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8)
• Quentin Halys beat Alex De Minaur (15): 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3), 7-6 (8)
• Alex Molcan beat Yoshihito Nishioka (28): 7-6 (5), 1-6, 6-2
• Mackenzie McDonald beat Matteo Berrettini (19): 7-6 (8), 7-6 (5)
• Cristian Garin (Q) beat Sebastian Baez (27): 7-6 (2), 6-3
• Jiri Lehecka beat Lorenzo Musetti (18): 6-4, 6-4
• Richard Gasquet vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
• Francisco Cerundolo (25) beat Aleksandar Kovacevic (LL): 6-4, 6-4
• Christopher Eubanks (Q) beat Borna Coric (17): 3-6, 6-4, 6-2
• Taro Daniel (WC) beat Alexander Zverev (13): 6-0, 6-4
• Holger Rune (7) beat Marton Fucsovics: 6-3, 7-5
• Casper Ruud (3) beat Ilya Ivashka: 6-2, 6-3
• Dusan Lajovic beat Maxime Cressy (30): 6-4, 7-6 (2)
• Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (20) beat Brandon Nakashima: 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Grigor Dimitrov (21) beat Jan-Lennard Struff (Q): 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4
• Carlos Alcaraz (1) beat Facundo Bagnis: 6-0, 6-2
• Miomir Kecmanovic (29) beat Ugo Humbert: 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (3)
• Taylor Fritz (9) beat Emilio Nava (WC): 6-4, 6-1
• Tommy Paul (16) beat Marc-Andrea Huesler: 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
• Botic van de Zandschulp (26) beat Alexei Popyrin: 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2
• Diego Schwartzman (31) beat Yibing Wu: 7-6 (1), 6-1
• Jannik Sinner (10) beat Laslo Djere: 6-4, 6-2
• Andrey Rublev (6) beat J.J. Wolf: 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Emil Ruusuvuori beat Roberto Bautista Agut (22): 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Denis Shapovalov (24) beat Guido Pella: 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

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