MONTREAL
Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the men’s singles final at the National Bank Open on Sunday.
The unseeded Spaniard grabbed an early break in the deciding third set en route to his first Masters 1000 series title.
It was Carreno Busta’s seventh ATP Tour win in his career. He was the first unseeded player to win this tournament since Argentine Guillermo Canas in 2002.
Poland No. 8 Hurkacz had his power game underway early in the morning on a glorious afternoon at the IGA Stadium.
He led all players with aces this week and his serve was back on form as he controlled the first set in a decent 31 minutes. Carreno Busta upped his pace in the second set, taking advantage of some Hurkacz errors.
A double fault from Hurkacz and three unforced errors gave Carreno Busta a 2-0 lead and the Spaniard stayed ahead to force the deciding set.
Carreno Busta couldn’t match Hurkacz’s serving power – few players can – but good groundstroke placement and touch on his volleys proved effective.
After an early break of serve in the third, he showed his remarkable retrieval skills at one of the best points of the tournament.
Hurkacz landed a shot into the back corner which Carreno Busta snuffed out with a desperate lob that landed just inside the line. The rally lasted for a few shots before the Spaniard took the point with a bouncing backhand.
Carreno Busta stretched out his arms to take the standing ovation from the 11,715 sold-out crowd while Hurkacz threw his racquet onto the hard court in frustration.
The Spaniard broke Hurkacz’s serve again in the final game to seal the win in an hour and 45 minutes.
Hurkacz, who won his maiden Masters 1000 title in Miami last year, fell 5-1 down in the ATP Tour finals. The 23rd Carreno Busta has improved to 7-5 in recent appearances.
Unseeded American Reilly Opelka reached the final in Toronto last year but lost to top-seeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
In the doubles final, third-placed duo Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neal Skupski of Great Britain were set to face off against John Peers of Australia and Daniel Evans of Great Britain on Sunday night.
Evans reached the semifinals in singles but was eliminated by Carreno Busta, who earned $915,295 of the $6.57 million total money. Hurkacz received $499,830 as a finalist.
Organizers said a tournament-record 237,733 viewers over the week, more than 14,000 more than the previous mark in 2019.
The men’s tournament will be held in Toronto next year and the women’s WTA Tour event returns to Montreal.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on August 14, 2022.