Favorite Quinn?!

The American beat Hurkacz this season and he just won a Challenger in Phoenix, he’s on fire!

I remember their match at the Australian Open at the start of the year very clearly, Quinn totally crushed Hubi by being super clutch/ruthless and with a massive forehand that day, to the point that in the end Hurkacz completely gave up even though he actually wasn’t playing that badly… It was one of Quinn’s best matches; expecting the same thing for this match would be a bit crazy, but I have to admit he really impressed me with his title in Phoenix. He minimized as much as possible those spells where he does a bit of nonsense and he tightened up his game in the tiebreaks/important moments. I don’t think he was the best player in the tournament, but he was the most clinical (without knocking his overall level during the week either). I’m insisting on this because we should see one or more tiebreaks in this match given the profile of the two players. I don’t really know how Quinn will react to playing again right after his title; the lively conditions in Miami are great for his serve, but if it’s humid/draining he’s going to pay for it quickly.

Hurkacz went off to play Cap Cana! His first Challenger in 7 years because he wants to win matches and build some momentum, and tough luck, he crashed out in the first round, clearly, against Bellucci. Unfortunately I didn’t see the match, but the scoreline is extremely worrying. I can only put it into perspective by saying the conditions were very slow and Bellucci went on to reach the final playing good tennis, two mitigating factors even if Hurkacz keeps piling up bad matches. What could save him is how fast the courts are in Miami; he’s already won the tournament there so we can be optimistic about seeing him play some good tennis.

So, rather Quinn riding his momentum and taking out a Hurkacz in a crisis of confidence, or team Hurkacz, who’ll be fresher and practically impossible to break in these conditions? Very recent form points toward Quinn, but if we take everything into account…