Pablo Carreno Busta rallied to take down No. 8 seed Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 and claim his first ATP 1000-level title Sunday at the National Bank Open in Montreal.
The unseeded 31-year-old from Spain earned his seventh career title and his first in more than a year by defeating the heavy-hitting Pole, who served up 18 aces during the afternoon.
“Please don’t wake me up if I’m dreaming,” Carreno Busta said in the post-match trophy ceremony, “because I’m enjoying (this) a lot.”
“It’s an amazing feeling to be a Masters 1000 winner,” he added. “It’s the best title of my career for sure and I don’t know how I’m feeling in this moment.”
Carreno Busta won 17 of his 24 second-service points (70.8 percent) during the one-hour, 45-minute match. Hurkacz, by contrast, won just seven of 23 (30.4 percent).
Leading the final set 3-2, Carreno Busta chased down a shot from Hurkacz toward the back wall of the playing area and managed to send a lob shot over his shoulder and high into the air. Hurkacz lost track of it and let it bounce in-play before sending it back to Carreno Busta, giving him second life.
The Spaniard took advantage, hitting a backhand winner past a frustrated Hurkacz.
Carreno Busta denied Hurkacz his sixth career title and his second of the year. Hurkacz entered the match 5-0 in his previous five appearances in ATP finals.
“I lost the first set, just one break, but you know when you play against these kind of players who have a really good serve it’s really tough to be there,” Carreno Busta said. “But I just continued believing because I know that I was playing better and better. I tried to be aggressive with my serves and I could make two breaks, enough to be a winner.”
Carreno Busta battled through a difficult draw to reach Sunday’s final. He beat Italians Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner, the 11th and seventh seeds, in the first and third rounds, respectively. He outlasted Great Britain’s Daniel Evans 7-5, 6-7 (7), 6-2 in Saturday’s semifinal match that lasted nearly three hours.
Carreno Busta became the sixth different Spaniard to win an ATP singles title this year, joining Rafael Nadal, Albert Ramos Vinolas, Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista Agut and Pedro Martinez.
–Field Level Media
