Hubert Hurkacz suffered a dramatic defeat against Botic van de Zandschulp on Friday in Montreal, losing 6-3, 6-7(4), 5-7 despite holding two match points. The Wroclaw native failed to convert his opportunities late in the second set before the Dutchman completed a three-set comeback.
Hurkacz entered the tournament following a fourth-round appearance at Wimbledon, where he retired due to an injury in the fifth set against Jan-Lennard Struff after leading two sets to zero. In Montreal, the Polish player opened with a 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 victory over Marcos Giron, followed by a 6-4, 7-6(4) win against Alejandro Tabilo.
Van de Zandschulp reached the Friday clash after upsetting Daniil Medvedev 6-3, 7-6(5) in the second round. The two players had met only once previously, at Roland Garros in 2021, when Hurkacz won the opening two sets before losing in five sets.
First set victory
The Friday match opened with three comfortable service holds by both players. In the fourth game, van de Zandschulp struggled on his serve, allowing Hurkacz to earn three break points. Hurkacz secured the break with a perfect lob to draw applause from the crowd, then held serve to take a 4-1 lead.
Hurkacz served strongly, dictated play, and forced errors from his opponent throughout the opening set. Although van de Zandschulp saved a set point in the eighth game, Hurkacz held his next service game to take the set 6-3.
Second set turnaround
Van de Zandschulp began the second set by winning two consecutive games during a brief slump by Hurkacz. However, the Dutchman grew nervous and committed errors, allowing Hurkacz to break back and subsequently break again with deep shots to the baseline for a 3-2 lead.
Hurkacz served for the match at 5-4 and held two match points. On a crucial point, Hurkacz hit a powerful shot while van de Zandschulp was lying on the court, but the ball ricocheted off the Dutchman's racket and dropped just over the net on Hurkacz's side. Hurkacz then hit a double fault, allowing van de Zandschulp to level at 5-5.
In the second-set tie-break, Hurkacz established a 4-2 lead. Van de Zandschulp responded by winning five consecutive points to take the tie-break 7-4 and force a deciding third set.
Third set break
The third set remained on serve for much of the duration, with van de Zandschulp looking more confident on his serve. Hurkacz hit an unusually high number of double faults but managed to save break points to stay level.
At 5-4, Hurkacz pressured van de Zandschulp's serve to stay in the match, but the Dutchman held and then broke the 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist to take a 6-5 lead. Van de Zandschulp held serve in the final game to seal the 6-3, 6-7(4), 5-7 victory.
