MIAMI: Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz defeated Italian teenager Jannik Sinner in straight sets to win the Miami Open and claim the first ATP Masters title of his career on Sunday.

The 26th-seeded Hurkacz, who had eliminated four higher-ranked players en route to the final, held his nerve at Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium to win 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 in 1hr 43min.

It was a deserved victory for the 24-year-old from Wroclaw, who claimed his second title of the season as Sinner’s challenge unravelled with a series of unforced errors.

Sinner had started slowly, being broken with his first service game to quickly find himself trailing 3-0 in the opening set. However the talented 19-year-old grew in confidence as the set progressed, working Hurkacz around the court with some pinpoint forehands.

The Italian broke back in the fifth game and then held to make it 3-3, before another break of Hurkacz’s serve gave him a 6-5 lead and the chance to serve for the set.

Sinner appeared to tighten on serve, though, and another unforced error, sending a backhand long, allowed Hurkacz to break back at 6-6 and force the tie break.

Hurkacz quickly raced into a 6/2 lead in the decider and although Sinner clawed it back to 6/4, another missed forehand handed Hurkacz the first set.

Hurkacz carried that momentum into the second set, sprinting into a 4-0 lead with a double break.

Sinner rallied to pull the score back to 4-3 but was unable to break an increasingly jittery Hurkacz in the eighth game to leave the Pole 5-3 up.

After Sinner held for 5-4, Hurkacz once again benefited from unforced errors by his opponent at key times as he served for the championship.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2021