Jordan Thompson defeats Hubert Hurkacz in stunning fashion

O’Connell eliminated the 26th seed Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the first round and then defeated Italian qualifier Mattia Bellucci 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to qualify, while De Minaur came from a 5-2 deficit early on to eliminate Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

Briton Dan Evans is De Minaur’s third-round opponent.

Waiting for O’Connell Shared Marinko Matosevic as coach with Thompsonis world number one and Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner A rematch of the Miami Masters in March.

Virtanen’s attacking style initially alarmed de Minaur, but the No. 10 seed gradually gained the upper hand with his usual tenacious style, while the Finn also sought treatment for a lower back problem in the second set.

“I’m happy to be back on tour (after injuring my hip at Wimbledon),” de Minaur said.

“I’m improving every day and I’m looking forward to the future. I don’t have high expectations but I know every time I step out on the court I’m going to give it my all and try my best and hopefully get a good result, so we’ll see if I can keep doing that.”

Hurkacz’s defeat means that despite reaching the last 16 or better at every Grand Slam tournament he has reached, he has never advanced past the second round at the U.S. Open in seven appearances.

The match changed dramatically late in the first set when Hurkacz made a serve error. Thompson will match his fourth-round record in the COVID-19-affected 2020 tournament if he beats 30th-seeded Italian Matteo Arnoldi. Thompson excelled in defense, net play and clutch shots.

It was his fifth top-10 finish of his career, his second of the year — the other was Germany’s Alex Zverev’s title in Los Cabos — and his best win at this level since his five-set win over Casper Ruud at Wimbledon three years ago.

Thompson hasn’t made the last 32 of a Grand Slam since that Wimbledon tournament, but he will likely be seeded at the Australian Open in January, which would greatly increase his chances of advancing further.

Hurkacz was originally expected to be De Minaur’s opponent in the fourth round, but the list of opponents in this part has not yet been determined.

Thompson may instead become a stumbling block for de Minaur, who is trying to become the first Australian male player to reach three consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinals since Lleyton Hewitt two decades ago.

Hurkacz got break points in several consecutive games in the second half of the third set, and once threatened his serve to win the match, but Thompson broke his serve many times at critical moments.

The pigeon-toed Pole started strongly but then struggled. Hurkacz made just four unforced errors in the first nine games, when he led 5-4 and broke for the match, but in the second set he lost the first point in the tiebreak and had 21 unforced errors by the time he was down 0-4.

Thompson’s solid defense, tendency to mix up his shots and skilled volleying played a big role in putting pressure on his opponent, but Hurkacz also made some puzzling mistakes.

Thompson quickly won the second set, but Hurkacz’s frustration grew in the third.

The Australian fought back from 15-40 down at 3-4 – first with a brilliant serve and volley, then two games later, she saved a break point that became set point, hitting a beautiful first serve in the first game and then an inside and outside forehand winner.

Thompson landed less than half of his first serves but won 82 percent of his first-serve points and hit 13 aces.

Hurkacz’s missed chance came back as his forehand shot deflected off the net, leaving him mired at 0-30 and tied at 5-5.

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On the next point, he hit a backhand into the net and then failed to hit a forehand shot out of bounds, resulting in another loss of serve, which effectively handed the victory to Thompson.

Thompson beat Rafael Nadal in January to reach the Brisbane semifinals and defeated Taylor Fritz in June to reach the same stage at the Queen’s Club before advancing to the Atlanta final and Washington ATP 500 quarterfinals to set up his US Open campaign.

Meanwhile, former champion Carlos Alcaraz’s Grand Slam winning streak came to an abrupt end on Thursday when the Spanish third seed was beaten 6-1, 7-5, 6-4 by unseeded Dutchman Botik van der Zandschup in the second round.

The out-of-form Alcaraz got off to a slow start and never recovered, making numerous unforced errors on a shocking Arthur Ashe Stadium, while an inspired van der Zand Schulp ended the French Open and Wimbledon champion’s 15-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments.

It was the Paris Olympic silver medalist’s earliest elimination at a Grand Slam since the 2021 Wimbledon.

“I don’t know what to say right now. First of all, I thought he played great,” Alcaraz said. “He didn’t make a lot of mistakes that I thought he would make, so I’m a little confused. I don’t know how to process it.”

Van der Zandschup, a former New York quarterfinalist who has been troubled by a left foot injury for the past two years, was speechless after the most important victory of his career.

“It was an incredible night. It was my first time doing a night show at Arthur Ashe Stadium. The crowd was amazing. Thank you guys. It was just an incredible night,” VanderZandschulp said.

“I think from the first point today I believed I had a chance. I was a little nervous, but if you want to beat these guys you have to stay incredibly calm and keep your head clear.”

Van der Zansholp will next face Britain’s Jack Draper.

– AAP, Reuters

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