Hubert Hurkacz describes what Roger Federer told him at the net
A year ago, Hubert Hurkacz was ranked outside the top-200 and was on the Asian Challenger swing, earning valuable points and improving the ranking position rapidly. The young Pole managed to qualify for the main draw at Roland Garros, Wimbledon and the US Open and never looked back, closing the season in the top-90 and preparing himself for an even bigger 2019! Making his first appearance at Indian Wells, Hubert has reached the quarter-final to set a dream Roger Federer clash on the Stadium 1 that Roger won 6-4, 6-4 in an hour and 13 minutes with a single break in each set.
Hurkacz earned two break points but he couldn't convert any of those and prolong the match, although he will take only the positive elements from his first encounter against the Swiss maestro, saying he has learned a lot from the more experienced rival. The Pole praised Roger's game and also revealed what Federer told him at the net.
"Roger is an unbelievable player, achieving so much during his career. What he is doing on and off the court is just something different. Playing against him for the first time on the big stadium of a great crowd here was, yeah, for sure different feeling. But still, I was trying to be as prepared as the best I can to play very good tennis. I was trying to compete and fight, believing that I can do it. I mean, Roger was playing great in the crucial moments. I had some small opportunities in the second set but overall it was a great lesson for me today, something I will take for the next tournament. I would say it's tough to explain what have I learned.
The match wasn't one-sided throughout the whole match, he was playing well although despite that I had some small chances and that gives me the motivation to work and reach that level sometime. He's changing directions all the time, it is really hard to read his serve. But, I mean, I think in the second set I started to do it better and the return games were a little bit closer. Yeah, I mean, like, all the time you come to the tournament, you want to win the tournament but for my first appearance here, playing in the quarter-final against Roger is a great achievement.
For me, it was great to be here, to play against a couple of great players, against Donald Young first time, then Lucas Pouille, Kei Nishikori, and Denis Shapovalov, those were huge wins for me. After the match, Roger said I played well and wished me good luck in the future. Yeah, I intend to play the full clay-court swing, Monte Carlo, Madrid and Rome before Roland Garros."
from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2TWYbb0
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