Hubert Hurkacz advances to Canadian Open final after top-10 showdown against Casper Ruud

It
was
an
interesting
clash
of
styles
going
into
the
contest,
with
Hurkacz
expected
to
rely
on
his
dominant
serve,
while
Ruud
is
one
of
the
game’s
top
returners,
so
when
Ruud
responded
to
an
early
break
and
was
the
one
serving
up
a
storm,
it
spelled
trouble
for
the
world
number
10.

Ruud
landed
78
per
cent
of
his
first
serves
in
the
opening
set,
compared
to
60
per
cent
for
Hurkacz,
and
the
Norwegian
won
95
per
cent
of
those
points
(20-of-21)
to
allow
just
one
break
point
in
the
frame
while
creating
four
for
himself.

As
Ruud’s
serve
began
to
falter
–
with
his
first
serve
accuracy
and
effectiveness
both
cratering
in
the
second
and
third
set
–
his
game
began
to
struggle
to
hold
up
to
the
metronomic
consistency
of
Hurkacz,
who
won
the
ace
count
18-to-eight.

After
pulling
the
match
even
at
one
set
each,
Hurkacz
took
the
contest
by
the
scruff
of
the
neck
and
won
the
first
four
games
of
the
deciding
frame
to
pull
away.

Poland’s
Hurkacz
–
who
won
his
only
previous
ATP
1000
final
against
Jannik
Sinner
at
the
2021
Miami
Open
–
will
now
face
Pablo
Carreno-Busta
in
the
decider
after
the
Spaniard
prevailed
in
a
three-hour
war
of
attrition
against
Daniel
Evans
7-5
6-7
(7-9)
6-2.

In
a
match
that
was
close
in
every
area,
Carreno-Busta
was
slightly
better,
winning
68
per
cent
(68-of-100)
of
his
service
points
compared
to
60
per
cent
(66-of-110)
for
Evans,
while
committing
just
one
double
fault
compared
to
the
Englishman’s
six.

It
will
be
Carreno-Busta’s
first
ATP
1000
final
appearance,
with
the
2021
Hamburg
Open
–
an
ATP
500
event
–
the
only
career
title
for
the
31-year-old
above
the
ATP
250
level.