Miami (AFP)

The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded N.2, was eliminated in the quarter-final of the Miami Masters 1000 on Thursday, beaten 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 by Hubert Hurkacz (N.26).

The Pole, 37th in the world, who is entering this stage for the first time for his second participation, will play Friday for a place in the final against the Russian Andrey Rublev (8th in the world) or the American Sebastian Korda (87th), son of former Australian Open winner (1998), Petr Korda.

After beating the odds in the previous rounds at the expense of Canadians Milos Raonic and Denis Shapovalov, 24-year-old Hurkacz faced even stronger against the 5th player in the world.

An opponent, semi-finalist of the last Australian Open, who had so far had six victories in their first seven confrontations.

And as the last five duels having opposed them, it was played quite tightly in three sets.

From the start of the first set, Hurkacz got himself three break points, but Tsitsipas erased them and was the most solid afterwards, taking the serve from him twice.

On his way, the Greek again broke his opponent at the start of the second set.

But the Pole immediately replied to return to height and, after saving two more break points, it was he who forced the passage to a third set.

A moment of tension then arose between the chair umpire and Tsitsipas, the first reproaching the second for taking too long to resume play. To the supervisor he then called, the referee explained: "I told him. nevertheless gave extra time to put on a new jersey (...) He said he needed more time to put on his headband, his bracelet. The time limit fell to 0, I gave him a + violation + ".

In no way disturbed by this setback, Hurkacz continued to gain the upper hand over Tsitsipas, who was ultimately not penalized.

Broken at 3-2, the Greek did not find a way to revive either, leaving his opponent to savor his best victory to date in a Masters 1000.

"I missed the boat, I was holding the game 6-2, 2-0, I was close to making a double-break and then I lost control. The credit goes to Hurkacz, but it is is a very disappointing defeat, I had an opportunity to seize in this tournament ", regretted Tsitsipas.

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