Two Polish tennis players brought pride to the nation earlier this month when they triumphed in two major tournaments held in China. The China Open was won by second-ranked player Iga Swiatek, while the Rolex Shanghai Masters tournament was won by eleventh-ranked player Hubert Hurkacz.
The Tennis Letter wrote on X, “Iga Swiatek & Hubert Hurkacz…Your Beijing & Shanghai Champions. Iga is the greatest female player in Poland’s history. Hubi is the greatest male player in Poland’s history. Both of them are now on a 6 match winning streak. Legendary Polish Power.”
Iga Swiatek & Hubert Hurkacz…
Your Beijing & Shanghai Champions.
Iga is the greatest female player in Poland’s history.
Hubi is the greatest male player in Poland’s history.
Both of them are now on a 6 match winning streak.
Legendary Polish Power.
🏆🇵🇱🏆 pic.twitter.com/SgxmaP6WVX
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 15, 2023
Iga Swiatek: China Open
22-year old Iga Swiatek outlasted Liudmila Samsonova with a straight set victory of 6-2 6-2 in the finals to clinch the China Open title in Beijing.
Indeed, this has been a fruitful year for Swiatek, as she bagged a total of five titles this year.
Swiatek’s victories this year:
-Qatar Open (Feb 2023)
-Stuttgart Open (April 2023)
-French Open (June 2023)
-Poland Open (July 2023)
-China Open (October 2023)
What a year it's been for Iga Swiatek! 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/hQJMgUrXoc
— Eurosport (@eurosport) October 10, 2023
Swiatek joins Serena Williams in the exclusive club of having won five or more major titles in a single season, which she accomplished in 2014 and 2015, as per WTA tour. In her post match conference, Swaiatek stated that this title was something that she never assumed would become hers at the start of the tournament.
“For sure, this is really big for me. Winning this title is something I never would have thought at the beginning of the tournament,” Swiatek said. “You can always get better, and sometimes it’s pretty easy, but we pretend to make it more complicated in our heads,” she added.
Hubert Hurkacz: Shanghai Masters
Hurkacz also made a buzz this week when he upset World No. 5 Andrey Rublev in a dramatic bout that ended with him clinching the Masters 1000 Title with 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8).
At the post-match press conference, the Shanghai press asked if this final had been his most intense so far.He replied:
“I would say yes, I think so. It is a Masters 1000 final in which we both had championship points in the tiebreak of the third set. We were there, battling, trying to take advantage of the opportunities, so it was really exciting. After winning the last point I was elated to have come out the winner of this battle. In those match points against me I was just telling myself what I had to do on the next point. I was focusing on where to play, on staying committed & trusting my shots.. fighting & battling until the end.”
With this triumph, Hurkacz has now won seven of his eight ATP Tour finals. This also marked his second win on the hard courts after his Miami Open title in 2021 where he defeated Jannik Sinner.
Hubert Hurkacz says Shanghai Final against Andrey Rublev was the most dramatic tournament finish of his career:
“I would say yes, I think so. It is a Masters 1000 final in which we both had championship points in the tiebreak of the third set. We were there, battling, trying to… pic.twitter.com/SPFLbGrAx8
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 15, 2023
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