ZCZC
BSP-05
TENNIS-ATP-USA
Hurkacz books Delray Beach final against Korda
MIAMI, Jan 13, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – Fourth-seeded Hubert Hurkacz ended
qualifier Christian Harrison’s Cinderella run in the ATP Delray Beach Open on
Tuesday, booking a final showdown with American Sebastian Korda.
Poland’s Hurkacz defeated Harrison 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, while Korda, a former
junior world number one, reached his first ATP Tour final with a 6-3, 7-5
semi-final victory over Britain’s Cameron Norrie.
“Very happy to win this match today,” the 23-year-old Hurkacz, ranked 35th
in the world, said. “I mean, Christian played pretty amazing throughout the
whole tournament.
“He qualified here and had his best results on the ATP Tour. Especially
after all he came through, all the surgeries, it’s really great for him. He
played a really amazing match.”
Harrison, ranked 789th in the world, had toppled Chilean top seed Cristian
Garin to reach the quarter-finals.
He recovered an early break of serve in the second set — the first break
of the match — but Hurkacz broke him again to love to regain the advantage
and went on to close out the match.
Hurkacz will be seeking a second ATP title to go with his 2019 Winston-
Salem crown.
Korda, the 20-year-old son of former Australian Open champion Petr Korda,
will be seeking a first tour title. His run to the final included a quarter-
final win over second-seeded American John Isner.
Against Norrie, Korda served for the match at 5-4 in the second set, but
let two match points go begging — one with a double-fault.
“Other than that, I played a really good match,” Korda said.
Two games later there was no mistake as he closed out the victory in one
hour and 22 minutes.
“I’m fired up right now, I couldn’t be happier,” said Korda, ranked 119th
in the world — 45 spots below Norrie.
BSS/AFP/MSY/1028 hrs