The 25-year-old Pole, revealed last year by his semi-final at Wimbledon and his victory at the Masters 1000 in Miami, was shaping up to be a formidable opponent for Kyrgios, who had beaten him last June for their first confrontation in semi-final of the Halle grass tournament.

And the euphoric Kyrgios paid the price, he who nevertheless remained on fifteen successes in sixteen matches - including his lost final at Wimbledon - and comes to put an end to three years of scarcity by winning the Washington tournament last weekend. .

The first two sets were very tight, the aces paraded (39 in total), the games too, to the point that neither player could break the other.

Hurkacz was the most solid, especially in defense, in the first decisive game to pocket the first set.

Kyrgios, who often appeared nonchalant in this match and unusually calm, although with his back to the wall, pulled out all the stops in the second tie-break, helped in particular by the net boards to escape 4-2, after a superb series of amortizations and counter-amortizations.

Revived, the Australian?

Not really.

Kyrgios, who confessed the day before feeling tired from stringing together matches, seemed to complain about his ankles and lower back between the second and third sets, during which he ran little.

He collapsed in that last run.

"The first two sets were pretty balanced, but in the third he was maybe a little hurt and that hurt his serve," admitted Hurkacz afterwards, praising his rival who "played amazingly over the last two months".

This is the first time "Hubi" has reached the last four at the Canada Open.

In search of a sixth title on the circuit, he will face Casper Ruud (N.7) in the semi-finals.

The Norwegian, who remains the highest ranked player in the table since the premature eliminations of Daniil Medvedev, Carlos Alcaraz and Stefanos Tsitsipas, was impressive and ruthless against the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime (N.9), crushed 6-1, 6-2.

The other two quarter-finals oppose the Spaniard Pablo Carreno to the Briton Jack Draper and the Briton Daniel Evans to the American Tommy Paul, four players not classified among the seeds of the Canadian tournament.

© 2022 AFP