The 23-year-old Pole on Wednesday defeated Denmark’s Mikael Torpegaard in straight sets, 6-4 6-3, in their second-round men’s singles match at the hard-court tournament Down Under.
The Polish player, who is world No. 29, will now take on Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the next round of the men's singles competition at the Great Ocean Road Open, which for many top tennis players is a final warm-up before the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam of the year.
Hurkacz has also reached the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles at the Melbourne tournament partnering with Italy's Jannik Sinner.
The Polish-Italian pairing on Wednesday saw off France’s Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Finland’s Henri Kontinen 6-1, 6-4 in the round of 16.
They will now face the winner of a match pitting Australians Matthew Ebden and John-Patrick Smith against Britain’s Luke Bambridge and Dominic Inglot for a place in the semifinals.
Meanwhile, Poland’s French Open champion Iga Świątek went down in straight sets to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova in the second round of the women’s singles at the WTA Melbourne 2, an Australian Open warm-up event also known as the WTA Gippsland Trophy.
The Polish 19-year-old on Wednesday lost 4-6, 2-6 in her first official match since claiming her maiden Grand Slam title at last October's Roland Garros in Paris.
The 2021 Australian Open Grand Slam tournament is set to be held in Melbourne from February 8 to 21.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR