Hurkacz powers past French wildcard into Australian Open last eight

Hurkacz powers past French wildcard into Australian Open last eight

Despite an early 3-0 lead in the first set, Arthur Cazaux's dream run was halted by the big-serving Pole.

Hubert Hurkacz, who won 91% of his first-serve points, will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals. (AP pic)
MELBOURNE:
Big-serving Hubert Hurkacz ended the dream run of French wildcard Arthur Cazaux 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 on Monday to advance to his first Australian Open quarterfinal.

Cazaux, 21, raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set but was pegged back by ninth-seed Hurkacz, who came out on top in the tie-break on John Cain Arena.

There were no breaks in a serve-dominated second set but the 26-year-old Pole again won the tie-break to take a firm grip on the match.

He broke his 122nd-ranked opponent in the first game of the third set and never looked back.

Overall, Hurkacz won 91% of his first-serve points and was broken just once in the entire match.

The former Wimbledon semifinalist, whose previous best performance at Melbourne Park was the fourth round last year, will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals.

“Arthur is such a great competitor, congratulations to him for an amazing run here,” said Hurkacz.

“I served well and he was serving well as well so I needed to stay aggressive and I’m really happy with today’s performance.

“I haven’t been into too many Grand Slam quarterfinals and super excited.”

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