Novak Djokovic beats Hubert Hurkacz at Geneva Open for 100th title

4 hours ago 2

Novak Djokovic became the third man in the Open era to reach 100 career wins, surviving a three-set thriller against Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz at the Geneva Open.

The Serbian great, seeded second, needed three hours and five minutes to turn back the sixth-seeded Hurkacz 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) and win at the clay-court ATP 250 event. Djokovic was down 2-4 in the final set but a break of Hurkacz in the eighth game got the match back on serve. Djokovic prevailed despite 52 winners by Hurkacz, which included 19 aces.

He now joins the elite group of Jimmy Connors (109 wins) and Roger Federer (103) to hit the century mark. It has been almost 20 years since the 38-year-old won his first tournament, a 2006 victory at Amersfoort in the Netherlands.

“I had to work for it, that’s for sure. Hubi was probably closer to victory [in] the entire match than I was,” Djokovic said. “I had some chances in the first set to break his serve, then had a bad game which ended up with the double fault on set point.

“I was just trying to hang in there, I don’t know how I broke his serve … but this is what happens at the highest level. Very few points decide the winner.

Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Poland's Hubert Hurkacz after winning the final
Novak Djokovic shakes hands with Poland's Hubert Hurkacz after winning the final. Photograph: Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

“Incredible match, 7-6 in the third with a full stadium, beautiful atmosphere. I’m just grateful to clinch the 100th here.”

This was Djokovic’s first title since winning the Paris Olympics in 2024, and he now has a victory in a record 20 different seasons. He will be going for his 25th grand slam title at the French Open, which begins Sunday in Paris. His first-round opponent is the American Mackenzie McDonald.

Flavio Cobolli of Italy won his second career title, defeating the third-seeded Andrey Rublev of Russia 6-2, 6-4 in Hamburg, Germany.

Cobolli breezed through the first set in 29 minutes. In the second set, serving for the win at 5-4, Cobolli fended off two break points on the way to the win. He saved six of seven break points on the day, while converting all four of his break chances on Rublev’s serve.

Rublev, a former Hamburg champion, hit just 10 winners against 23 unforced errors. Cobolli had 25 and 24, respectively. Cobolli won his first title in April in Bucharest, another tournament on clay.

  • This story will be updated

Read Entire Article
Infrastruktur | | | |