Australian Open 2024: Hurkacz powers past French wildcard Cazaux into last eight

Cazaux, 21, raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set but was pegged back by ninth-seed Hurkacz, who came out on top in the tie-break on John Cain Arena.

Hubert Hurkacz of Poland celebrates after defeating Arthur Cazaux of France in their fourth round match at the Australian Open tennis championships at Melbourne Park, Melbourne, Australia, Monday, January 22, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP

Big-serving Hubert Hurkacz ended the dream run of French wildcard Arthur Cazaux 7-6 (8/6), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 on Monday to advance to his first Australian Open quarter-final.

Cazaux, 21, raced into a 3-0 lead in the first set but was pegged back by ninth-seed Hurkacz, who came out on top in the tie-break on John Cain Arena.

There were no breaks in a serve-dominated second set but the 26-year-old Pole again won the tie-break to take a firm grip on the match.

He broke his 122nd-ranked opponent in the first game of the third set and never looked back.

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Overall, Hurkacz won 91 percent of his first-serve points and was broken just once in the entire match.

The former Wimbledon semi-finalist, whose previous best performance at Melbourne Park was the fourth round last year, will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarter-finals.

“Arthur is such a great competitor, congratulations to him for an amazing run here,” said Hurkacz.

“I served well and he was serving well as well so I needed to stay aggressive and I’m really happy with today’s performance.

“I haven’t been into too many Grand Slam quarter-finals and super excited.”