Hubert Hurkacz and Fabian Marozsan will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Thursday afternoon.
Marozsan had never reached the quarters of any ATP tournament in his career prior to arriving in Shanghai, but this is not the first time he has made noise at a Masters 1000. In Rome this spring, the 24-year-old Hungarian qualified for the main draw and then stunned Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 7-6(4) in the third round. Alcaraz was mentally and physically fatigued following his title in Madrid, but it was still an amazing result for Marozsan. All 10 of the world No. 91’s tour-level match victories have come in 2023–including over Arthur Rinderknech, Alex de Minaur, Dusan Lajovic, and Casper Ruud to earn his quarterfinal spot.
Hurkacz is through to the last eight following defeats of Thanasi Kokkinakis, Yu Hsiou Hsu, and Zhizhen Zhang. The 17th-ranked Pole needed two hours and 38 minutes to get past Zhang 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4) on Tuesday night.
Although Hurkacz is a two-time Masters 1000 finalist (2021 Miami champion, 2022 Montreal runner-up), he has generally underwhelmed at the biggest events throughout his career. He has been far from dominant this fortnight despite picking up a trio of victories, and a three-set battle in the fourth round could make him vulnerable on Thursday. The surface is Shanghai probably just a little bit too slow for his liking, as well.
Marozsan is scorching hot right now and has enough variety in his game–including one of the tour’s best drop-shots–to keep Hurkacz off balance. This is a real upset opportunity.
Pick: Marozsan in 3
WWW?
Marozsan is Hungarian and NOT Polish!
The writer of the article be better informed!
“Marozsan is Hungarian and NOT Polish!
The writer of the article be better informed!”
He is forgiven, he is American. Americans are bad in geography (understatement).