Tsitsipas battles back against birthday boy Hurkacz in Rotterdam

Stefanos Tsitsipas battled back against Hurkacz who failed to mark his birthday with a victory against the world number 6 in Rotterdam.

The grand finale of the ABN AMRO WTT of day 2 was to be played between Tsitsipas and Hurkacz. It's a great way to cap off a stellar tennis day in Rotterdam. An intriguing matchup between two players who share a lot of similarities. Both like to play aggressive and both did. The 1st set was a true galore of quick points and short games.

It was Hurkacz who had the lead early as he maintained up until the moment he served for the 1st set. He was up 5-4 and 40-0 in the game. He then lost five points in a row to make it 5-5. A sensational sequence by Tsitsipas got him back into the game. The Rotterdam crowd was witnessing a spectacular match. He then won his own game to go 6-5 up. Hurkacz responded with a game of his own and we were in the tiebreak.

In the tiebreak, Hurkacz played composed and focused and he earned a 4-1 lead early. He maintained it with stellar play on his own serve winning it ultimately 7-2. The Rotterdam crowd was swinging behind him as it was his birthday after all.

The 2nd set started out great for Hurkacz. He won the first two games to take a 2-0 lead before it all fell apart. Stefanos won the next four games to take a 4-2 lead. Tsitsipas remained composed and closed out the set 6-3. The momentum shifted over to Tsitsipas' side and he was determined to end it quick.

The 3rd set started with Stefanos dominating. He took an early lead 3-0 on the back of his stellar play. Hurkacz could not win a point let alone a game. His serve wasn't going as well so he was in big trouble. He couldn't fight back and he lost the final set 6-1.

The Greek proved he's quite happy in Rotterdam as he finally broke his curse which saw him lose 3 times in the 1st round here, prior to today's victory.

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