They are already setting up at the Miami Open venue for the F1 Grand Prix that will be held there later this spring.
On Saturday, the best tennis players in the world were showcasing their own version of “Drive to Survive.”
The month of March is all about surviving and advancing, which is exactly what second-round and third-round participants in Miami were hoping to do on Saturday. Some did; others crashed out. But for pretty much everyone it was a wild ride. Eight of the 15 men’s singles second-round matches went three sets with 14 tiebreakers played in total. Three matches featured tiebreakers in every set; two in Felix Auger-Aliassime vs. Thiago Monteiro and a full three in Quentin Halys vs. Alex de Minaur and Hubert Hurkacz vs. Thanasi Kokkinakis. Six of the eight women’s third-round matches required a third set. Two lasted more than three hours.
Two men’s marathons also went well past the three-hour mark. A third one would have if Monteiro had converted a set point at 7-6 in the second-set ‘breaker of his 7-6(5), 7-6(8) loss to Auger-Aliassime. They played for a ridiculous two hours and 41 minutes to complete only two sets.
Nothing was crazier or lasted longer than the Hurkacz-Kokkinakis contest.
In what is the longest best-of-three match on the ATP Tour so far this season, Hurkacz outlasted Kokkinakis 6-7(10), 7-6(7), 7-6(6) after three hours and 31 minutes. And it was a roller-coaster the whole way. The Pole had six set points in the opening tiebreaker, including three in a row from 6-3 up. Nonetheless, he lost it. Kokkinakis had three match points in the second ‘breaker, including two back-to-back from 6-4 ahead–one of which saw him miss a volley right on top of the bet. The Aussie somehow lost that. In the third and final ‘breaker, Kokkinakis again saw a 6-4 advantage evaporate. Hurkacz erased one match point with a backhand return winner off a 126 mph second serve and the 2021 champion finally prevailed when Kokkinakis missed a backhand wide at 6-7.
“I knew I was playing good tennis,” Hurkacz said afterward. “Thanasi (was), as well. I was just trying to stay in there and compete–play some good shots. Either way, if I won or I lost…obviously I wanted to win so, so much…but either way (I) should have been happy with myself.
“It’s tough to explain for me.”
That last comment pretty much sums up the whole day.
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nice one, Hubi