Shanghai champion Hubert Hurkacz loses to Zhizhen Zhang in Japan Open, dents ATP Finals hopes

By SABC Sport
18th October 2023

Hubert Hurkacz was defeated in three sets by Zhizhen Zang to crash out of the Japan Open first-round in Tokyo, denting his ATP finals qualification chances.

The Masters 1000 Shanghai Open winner lost 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (4) to the 57th ranked Chinese prospect on Wednesday, whom he had beaten a week ago in front of his home crowd in China.

Zhang will now face 50th ranked Aslan Karatsev in the second round, who also caused an upset in the first round by defeating the tournaments' 6th seed and world number 14 Frances Tiafoe.

The Pole had come into this clash with a 1-2 head to head deficit against Zhang and was the bookies favourite to level terms with a win over him in Tokyo.

However, Zhang battled back after a opening set win for the 26-year-old Hurkacz and even managed to turnaround a 3-1 deficit in the third set following his opponents failure to capitalize on three chances he had on the first break opportunities of the set.

Hurkacz had fought hard to put himself back into contention for a spot in Turin at the ATP Finals, having jumped into 11th spot in the rankings following his title win in China.

The Pole will have another chance to claim the final spot at the ATP 500 Basel Open and the last Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy.