Hubert Hurkacz picked up where he left off in his return to Montréal at the National Bank Open presented by Rogers.
When the Pole with one of tennis’ heftiest serves made the final in 2022, all five of his singles matches went to a deciding third set. Hurkacz played two more three-setters in the 2024 edition on Saturday, which also happened to mark his comeback from a right knee injury sustained at Wimbledon on July 4. Both times he rallied from a set down.
The world No. 6 spent about four-and-a-half hours on court in overcoming Thanasi Kokkinakis and then Arthur Rinderknech to reach the quarter-finals.
“It was crazy. Crazy day,” Hurkacz told a group of reporters afterwards. “Definitely one of my best days on Tour. I’ll remember it forever. I didn’t know if I would be able to run properly, if I’m going to play.Then I won two matches.”
Hurkacz hurt himself at Wimbledon as he dived for a ball on the grass against Arthur Fils in a fourth set tiebreaker and had to retire a few minutes later, at 8-9.
He’d won the first two sets at the Grand Slam where he reached the semi-finals in 2021, beating Roger Federer in what would turn out to be the Swiss’ final appearance at his beloved Major.
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Hurkacz wasted no time in trying to recover, undergoing meniscus surgery and asking Novak Djokovic for advice after the Serb underwent surgery on his meniscus in the wake of a slip on the clay at the French Open in June.
Djokovic returned in time to compete at Wimbledon and made the final — losing to the man who he would beat in the Olympic final three weeks later, Carlos Alcaraz. Hurkacz was forced to skip the Olympics but resurfaced in Montréal after he initially feared he might not play again until 2025.
“Normally, you don’t recover three weeks after meniscus surgery. So just thankful to the guys for working hard and the work they put into it,” Hurkacz said, referring to his physio and fitness trainer.
Hurkacz downed Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a match twice affected by rain but his 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6) victory over Kokkinakis was even more dramatic.
Hurkacz appeared, understandably, tentative in his early movement before growing into the contest.
“I think I actually stopped thinking about (the knee) in the middle of the second set in the first match,” he said.
Hurkacz leads the tour in aces this season and fired 14 against Kokkinakis, who ripped 15 of his own.
Kokkinakis converted 1-of-7 break point chances as Hurkacz routinely targeted the backhand of the Australian — who might always be remembered for playing a close to six-hour match with Andy Murray in Melbourne that ended at around 4 a.m. local time in 2023.
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Hurkacz, who barely missed a volley throughout, double faulted on a first match point at 6-4 in the tiebreaker but recovered. When Kokkinakis’ passing shot went long on a third match point, Hurkacz dropped his racket and put his hands at the side of his head, looking in disbelief. Such drama between the pair isn’t unusual. Hurkacz won in Miami in 2023, saving five match points in a rare three tiebreaker match.
Some would say their NBO match took three days. The duo was just about to begin on Thursday, but then the rain came and never stopped. But it produced a moment that went viral — Hurkacz sitting at his bench and having a chat with a ball kid who plays tennis while holding an umbrella.
“Just enjoy it,” Hurkacz said to the ball kid.
Rinderknech wouldn’t have enjoyed coming back from both rain delays serving at 15-30 in the third set. Both times the Frenchman was broken, including at 4-4.
Asked if he was ready to potentially play two more matches on Sunday — the first one against Alexei Popyrin — Hurkacz replied, “Of course!” It drew laughter. He’s happy to be back on Tour, and in Montréal.
“I really enjoy the people here,” said the 27-year-old. “And it’s so much fun to compete again. I really have great memories from this city.”
Featured photo by: Pascal Ratthé
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