Australian Open 2022 - ‘Something special!' - Hubert Hurkacz produces magical, shot of the tournament contender
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Updated 17/01/2022 at 09:28 GMT
“That is the shot of the day by some margin! Incredible reach!” Hubert Hurkacz produced a stunning diving volley in his first-round match at the Australian Open that prompted the superlatives from commentators Peter Marcato and Marc Lucero. Stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+. A subscription for discovery+ is now £29.99 for the first year for UK users, down from £59.99
‘He has made it! Something special!' - Hurkacz with an early contender for shot of the tournament
Hubert Hurkacz overcame Egor Gerasimov in four sets – 6-2 7-6(3) 6-7(5) 6-3 – to progress to the second round of the Australian Open at Melbourne Park.
And Hurkacz – ranked 11th in the world – will face Adrian Mannarino in round 2, but no matter how far the Polish star goes in the tournament, it is unlikely that he will produce a better shot then in the ninth game of the fourth set on day 1.
On the cusp of breaking his opponent’s serve at 40-30, he produced a diving, magical volley to put himself to within one game of the next round. It led to superlatives from the commentary box.
“Ohh, he has made it,” began Peter Marcato. “It's something special from Hubert Hurkacz!”
“That is the shot of the day by some margin! Incredible reach!”
Hurkacz’s coach Craig Boynton looked non-plussed sat in the stands, prompting Marc Lucero to add:
“Craig Boynton, you can do better than a little golf clap! That was an unbelievable volley at full stretch!”
However, in his post-match press conference, Hurkacz joked it wasn't even in his top three diving volleys.
"Yeah, I think that was like my fourth-best diving volley of all time. It's good (smiling). It's pretty good," said Hurkacz.
"No, definitely was a good volley in the crucial moment. So I'm happy with this one, that I made it."
The 24-year-old then addressed the tricky nature of first-round matches.
"No, it's very tricky," he added. "All the players are great players here. It's not like someone is ranked a bit lower -- I mean, obviously being ranked a bit higher you're favorite to win and you have maybe a little bit more experience.
"But, no, definitely everyone wants to win here, wants to make an upset, and wants to compete as hard as he can and she can."
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Stream the 2022 Australian Open live and on demand on discovery+. A subscription for discovery+ is now £29.99 for the first year for UK users, down from £59.99
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