Hubert Hurkacz made a big statement with his serve on Thursday afternoon at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where he set a second-round showdown with fellow former champion Novak Djokovic.
Competing at the ATP Masters 1000 event for the first time since lifting the trophy in 2023, Hurkacz fired 19 aces to defeat James Duckworth 6-3, 7-6(4) in 81 minutes. The 29-year-old Pole will now face record four-time champion Djokovic, who arrives in Shanghai in fine form after claiming his 102nd tour-level title in Beijing on Tuesday.
“It’s going to be a fun challenge,” Hurkacz, who trails Djokovic 0-8 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, said. “It’s on my list to play some good tennis against him and get a win. He’s got a few of them already… I need to serve well, play well from the baseline and return well. He won the title [in Beijing] again. It’s always a pleasure to share the court with Novak, such a great champion.”
Hurkacz has also enjoyed an impressive return to form during the Asian hard-court swing, reaching the final in Chengdu before advancing to the last four in Beijing. The former World No. 6 retired in the second set of his semi-final against Alex de Minaur in Beijing, but he admitted he is feeling back on track in Shanghai.
“I’m definitely feeling better,” Hurkacz said. “It was a bit unfortunate in Beijing, I had a problem with my adductor, but now it’s getting better. I’m feeling better. I did a lot of recovery to get back the energy and restore everything for this tournament, because I really love playing here.”
In the first match of the day on Stadium Court, Stefanos Tsitsipas improved to 6-0 in opening-round matches at the Masters 1000 event after defeating qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 7-5. Like Hurkacz, the Greek produced a strong serving display, dropping just four of his 19 points on second serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
“I feel like some of my best tennis has come playing first on,” Tsitsipas, who defeated Cincinnati champion Arthur Fils in the first round of the US Open in an early match, said. “I had a really good win a few weeks ago at the US Open where I played Arthur Fils. That was either first or second on, so I can look back at that and say I played good tennis there.”
Watch Tsitsipas improve to 6-0 in Shanghai openers:
Tsitsipas will next face 18th seed Luciano Darderi, with the Greek winning their only previous meeting on the grass in Halle last year. After his opening win in Shanghai, the former World No. 3 Tsitsipas has climbed five spots to No. 38 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Jan-Lennard Struff, and Matteo Arnaldi all also advanced to intriguing round-two meetings in Shanghai on Thurdsay. Cerundolo defeated qualifier Nicolas Mejia 6-4, 6-4 to face second seed and Tokyo champion Carlos Alcaraz, while Struff overcame #NextGenATP Spaniard Martin Landaluce 6-4, 6-4 and will next take on World No. 6 Daniil Medvedev.
Arnaldi blitzed qualifier Bernard Tomic 6-3, 6-1 in 52 minutes to earn a showdown with 11th seed Taylor Fritz, who is bidding to improve his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. The American is 12th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.
