A surprising semifinal lineup at the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Saturday will see Hubert Hurkacz and Sebastian Korda go head-to-head for the third time in their careers.
They have split their two previous meetings; Hurkacz triumphed 6-3, 6-3 in the 2021 Delray Beach final before Korda won a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 1-6, 7-6(10-7) thriller in the fourth round of this year’s Australian Open.
Korda is ranked a solid No. 26 in the world and he will break into the top 20 if he prevails on Saturday, but things would certainly be even better for him if not for a wrist injury sustained at Melbourne Park one round after beating Hurkacz. That kept Korda on the sidelines for three months, and his only decent result between the Australian Open and mid-August was a semifinal showing at Queen’s Club. The 23-year-old has finally gotten back on track with a semifinal run in Zhuhai, a runner-up performance in Astana, and Shanghai victories over and Yunchaokete Bu, Daniil Medvedev, Francisco Cerundolo, and Ben Shelton–the latter in a third-set tiebreaker.
Just like it was in Melbourne, this should be a fantastic matchup between two players in fine form. Already a two-time Masters 1000 finalist (2021 Miami champion, 2022 Montreal runner-up), Hurkacz is one win away from a third title match at this level following victories over Thanasi Kokkinakis, Yu Hsiou Hsu, Zhizhen Zhang, and Fabian Marozsan. Despite a remarkably favorable draw, however, the 17th-ranked Pole has been far from dominant. He outlasted Zhang 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(4) on Tuesday and also needed three sets against Marozsan in the quarters.
The only real knock on Korda is a tendency to fold under pressure; his actual tennis has never been called into question. Well, the American handled the pressure well–albeit just barely–in a thriller against Shelton. If he can hold his nerve in the semis, this is a great opportunity for him to reach a first Masters final.
Pick: Korda in 3
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Should be a thriller…Korda in 3.