Hubert Hurkacz has been having fun in the Florida sun this year but, after just 52 minutes against Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Miami Open presented by Itau on Thursday, the 26th seed found himself serving at 2-6, 0-2, 15/40 and feeling the heat.
The Pole, who had struggled to keep his error count down on Grandstand, raised his aggression to extend his unbeaten run in Florida this year to eight matches with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory. Hurkacz entered the match with one win from seven ATP Head2Head clashes against Tsitsipas, but he fired 15 aces and broke serve on three occasions to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.
For the sixth straight match, Hurkacz and Tsitsipas needed a deciding set to separate them. Hurkacz has recovered from a set down in back-to-back matches in Miami, following his 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(4) win against Milos Raonic in the Round of 16.
Tsitsipas took advantage of a below-par Hurkacz performance to race into a 6-2, 2-0 lead. The Greek held two break points to establish a 3-0 advantage in the second set, but Hurkacz served with power and moved to the net to halt Tsitsipas’ momentum.
That third game proved to be the turning point for Hurkacz, who returned with aggression to push Tsitsipas into defensive positions and extract errors. The Delray Beach champion won six of seven games from 0-2 to level the match.
Hurkacz earned the crucial break of the match at 2-2 in the third set. Tsitsipas had led 40/0 in the game, but the World No. 37 ripped a backhand passing shot up the line and placed his opponent in uncomfortable positions at the net to break serve. Hurkacz landed a powerful serve down the T to convert his first match point.
Hurkacz will face Andrey Rublev or #NextGenATP American Sebastian Korda for a spot in the final. The 24-year-old owns 1-0 ATP Head2Head records against both men. At the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com in January, Hurkacz defeated Korda to win his second ATP Tour title.