Hubert Hurkacz plays 124-minute Cancun Challenger semifinal against Moez Echargui
Third seed Hubert Hurkacz contested a 124-minute semifinal against Tunisia's Moez Echargui at the ATP Challenger 125 in Mexico after saving nine break points in his quarterfinal win.
Wild card entry and opening rounds
Polish tennis player Hubert Hurkacz entered the main draw of the ATP Challenger 125 tournament in Cancun after receiving a last-minute wild card invitation from the Mexican event organizers. Seeded third in the tournament bracket, the 29-year-old from Wroclaw was awarded a bye through the first round. In the second round, Hurkacz faced Portugal's Henrique Rocha in a three-set contest. Hurkacz took the opening set 6:2 before Rocha leveled the match by taking the second set 6:4. Hurkacz closed out the deciding third set 6:4 to secure progression to the quarter-finals.
Quarterfinal match against Roman Safiullin
In the quarter-finals, Hurkacz played Roman Safiullin in a match that concluded after one hour and 48 minutes of play. The opening set remained closely contested, featuring an extended 29-shot baseline exchange at 3:3. Hurkacz ended that rally with a drop shot, which Safiullin chased down and returned, before Hurkacz advanced to the net and struck a powerful shot directly at the Russian player. Hurkacz immediately raised his hand in apology to indicate the strike was unintentional. After defending against multiple break point opportunities on his own serve throughout the set, Hurkacz broke Safiullin's serve at 5:4 to win the set 6:4. Hurkacz controlled the second set to finish a 6:4, 6:3 victory, successfully defending all nine break points he faced during the match.
- Receives a bye as the tournament third seed
- Defeats Henrique Rocha in three sets (6:2, 4:6, 6:4)
- Defeats Roman Safiullin 6:4, 6:3 while defending nine break points
- Plays Moez Echargui on Centre Court in a 124-minute match
Semifinal clash against Moez Echargui
Hurkacz advanced to the semi-finals on Centre Court against Moez Echargui of Tunisia, scheduled to begin shortly after 1:00 Polish time overnight between Saturday and Sunday. Hurkacz started the match on serve, winning the opening game at love before Echargui held to bring the score to 1:1. In the fifth game, Echargui took a 0-30 lead on Hurkacz's serve, but Hurkacz won four consecutive points to hold for 3:2. During the eighth game, Echargui held a game point to level the set at 4:4 but could not convert. Hurkacz capitalized to create the first break point of the match, converted it for a 5:3 advantage, and served out the first set 6:3.
Second set action and tournament context
Following the opening set, Echargui took a break of several minutes before the start of the second set. In the opening game of the second set, Echargui saved two break points to hold serve and later recovered from a 0-30 deficit in his following service game. Echargui then created two break point opportunities to take a 3:1 lead, while Hurkacz later requested medical assistance during the match. The semifinal concluded after 124 minutes of play. The encounter was the second meeting between Hurkacz and Echargui, following an ITF tournament match in Bakersfield more than 10 years earlier, which Echargui won 7:6(4), 4:6, 6:3. Echargui entered the tournament ranked 197th in the ATP rankings, 128 spots behind Hurkacz, with the tournament final pairing the winner against either Sebastian Baez or Lloyd Harris.
