Departure from the hotel at 8 a.m. A first match that starts at 11 a.m., which ends at 1:30 p.m. A five-hour break. Then, another match, interrupted not once, but twice by rain.
It was 9:29 p.m. when Arthur Rinderknech returned a Hubert Hurkacz serve into the net, confirming Hurkacz’s second win of the day at the National Bank Open on Saturday. The Pole thus completed a work day of 4 hours and 36 minutes on the courts, in addition to the aforementioned breaks.
Many players would have simply raised their hats after shaking hands with the referee and opponent. Not Hurkacz.
Confirming his reputation as an approachable athlete, he walked around the Rogers court to take pictures, give fist bumps to young and old, and sign large tennis balls.
This continued during the walk between the field and the interview area, where one supporter after another took pictures with him. If he had fallen from exhaustion, there would have been no shortage of Simon of Cyrene to help him up.
PHOTO DAVID KIROUAC, USA TODAY SPORTS VIA REUTERS CON
Hubert Hurkacz
But it was with a big smile that Hurkacz appeared in front of the microphones. After all, he had just marked his return to the game by winning his second and third round matches (he had a bye in the first round), first against Thanasi Kokkikanis, then against Rinderknech.
The fans were amazing, I was really happy to see them again and to start playing again. When you’re just playing tournament after tournament, you don’t have time to step back and appreciate what you’ve done. This break gave me time to reflect.
Hubert Hurkacz
It was a very unusual return to the game that awaited Hurkacz. Injured in the meniscus at Wimbledon, he feared that his 2024 season was over. He finally went under the knife on July 15.
Three weeks later, he is back in top form, winning two in a row, albeit against opponents ranked outside the top 60but still. In both cases, he lost the first round before winning the next two.
“It’s hard to describe, especially after what I’ve been through,” said Hurkacz, 6e racket world. I didn’t know if I was going to play again this year, I had surgery three weeks ago and I’m coming back playing two matches in the same day. Normally, you don’t come back three weeks after a meniscus operation! I’m really grateful to my physiotherapist and my strength coach. Without them, I wouldn’t have been able to play here.”
After all that, the knee held up. “Maybe a little swelling,” he conceded.
It was one of the best days of my career. I didn’t know if I was even going to be able to run properly and I won two matches. I’m going to remember that for the rest of my life.
Hubert Hurkacz
His strange week will continue. The rain meant that he only started his tournament on Saturday, “like when I was going through the qualifications!” And a colleague pointed out to him that to win the tournament, he will have to win five matches in three days: two more on Sunday and the final on Monday.
“It will be like an U12 tournament,” he joked. “It’s a challenge, but there are two games to play.”
Ready to start again? “Sure.”
And so ended his briefing. As soon as the microphones were lowered, shouts of “Hubie, Hubie” rang out near the barricade. And Hurkacz went back to signing autographs.