Miami Open: Hubert Hurkacz Beats Thanasi Kokkinakis In Eepic, Daniil Medvedev Cruises Through

Hubert Hurkacz saved five match points as he fought back to beat Thanasi Kokkinakis in a three and a half hour epic while fourth-seed Daniil Medvedev got his Miami Open bid under way with an easy win on Saturday. Hurkacz was pushed all the way by the Australian lucky loser Kokkinakis before emerging with a 6-7 (10/12), 7-6 (9/7), 7-6 (8/6) victory.

The Aussie had shown his mettle by saving six set points as he won the first-set tie-break and Hurkacz, the 2021 Miami champion, saved three match points in the second-set tie-break and another two in the final-set breaker.

"It's tough to explain for me. I was just trying to stay in there and compete, play some good shots," said Hurkacz, the eighth seed at Hard Rock Stadium. Kokkinakis was on serve at 6-4 up in the final set tie-break but Hurkacz produced a stunning winner up the line and that shot finally turned the tide decisively towards the Pole, who won the next three points to settle the contest.

The three hours, 31 minutes contest was the longest best-of-three ATP match of the year so far. In contrast, Indian Wells runner-up Medvedev barely broke sweat beating Spanish clay-court specialist Roberto Carballes Baena 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes.

The Russian's loss to Carlos Alcaraz in the Indian Wells final had ended his 19-match winning streak, but he was totally dominant as he struck 18 winners to the Carballes Baena's five.

Medvedev made use of the drop shot, which Alcaraz had used to good effect against him last week, and joked that he had been trying to emulate the world number one. "I thought I needed to use that shot more. I've always liked drop shots but it's not a weapon in my game that I'm going to use 50 times a match," he said.

Looking forward

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