21 aces not enough: Hurkacz out in Shanghai after a tie-break against Davidovich Fokina

Hubert Hurkacz will not play in the quarter-finals of the ATP 1000 tournament in Shanghai. On Tuesday, in the last 16, the Pole lost to Spain's Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, the 25th seed, 6-1, 3-6, 6-7 (6-8). Everything was decided by the third-set tie-break, in which the Spaniard won the last two points from 6-6. It is a painful defeat for Hurkacz, who was the stronger player for much of the match.

A great start, then trouble

The first set was a showcase for the Pole. Hurkacz held serve comfortably, broke his error-prone opponent twice and took the set 6-1. In the second set the roles were reversed: Davidovich Fokina took control, won the set 6-3 and forced a decider.

A tie-break for a quarter-final place

The third set was very close. At 6-5 to the Pole, the Spaniard served to stay in the match and did so successfully. The tie-break was just as tight. At 6-6 Hurkacz lost a point on his own serve, and moments later Davidovich Fokina closed out the match on his. The tie-break ended 8-6 to the Spaniard.

Numbers that hurt

The statistics show how little was missing. According to Sportradar data, Hurkacz served 21 aces to his opponent's 3. The Pole also won more points over the match – 99 to 88 – and took 49 of 60 points on his first serve. What let him down was efficiency at the key moments: Hurkacz had 12 break points and converted only three. Davidovich Fokina had just two chances to break in the whole match and took both.

The difference also showed in the serving game. The Pole landed his first serve on 60 of 80 service points and won 82% of those rallies. Davidovich Fokina landed 77 first serves but won only 49 of those points, or 64%. The Spaniard therefore had to defend his serve far more often – and did so effectively, saving 9 of 12 break points. Hurkacz made one double fault in the whole match, his opponent none.

No revenge

The match was a repeat of the recent final in Chengdu, which Davidovich Fokina also won. Hurkacz arrived in Shanghai in good form. In the first round he beat Australia's James Duckworth, in the second he defeated Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 – according to Interia, for the first time in his career, at the ninth attempt – and in the third he knocked out home player Yi Zhou after a three-set battle. Shanghai is a special place for the Pole: in 2023 he won the tournament here, beating Andrey Rublev in the final.

In the quarter-finals on Thursday Davidovich Fokina will face France's Arthur Gea, who on his ATP 1000 debut beat 13th seed Jakub Menšík 7-6 (4), 6-4.