The Asturian came back from Hubert Hurkacz (3-6, 6-3 and 6-3) in the Montreal final
Carreño, 31 years old and number 23 in the world, is the third Spaniard capable of winning this tournament
The Spanish Pablo Carreno won this Sunday the first Masters 1,000 title of his career, by beating Pole Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Montreal tournament. Carreño, 31 years old and number 23 in the world, is the third Spaniard capable of winning this tournament after Rafael Nadalwhich triumphed in 2005, 2008, 2013, 2018 and 2019, and Manuel Oranteschampion in 1975.
It had been 21 years since a player had won this tournament without starting as the top seed and Carreño was the protagonist of an unbeatable weekin which he eliminated the Italians Matteo Berrettini and Jannik Sinner, the Danish Holger Rune and the British Jack Draper and Daniel Evans on his way before striking down Hurkacz, number 10 in the world, in the final.
Carreño, born in Gijón in 1991, celebrated the seventh title of his career and is the sixth Spaniard to win a tournament in this brilliant 2022after Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Roberto Bautista, Albert Ramos and Pedro Martínez.
And that the third confrontation of his career with Hurkacz started with the Pole as owner of the operations. He had a break to love in the sixth set and defended it to take a 6-3 lead. But the reaction of Carreño, who had won an intense battle in the semifinals against Daniel Evans, was not long in coming..
He raised the level, both with his serve, the weapon that took him to this final (94% of games won with the service this week), and the rest. He managed a break to love in the third game and did not allow his rival to get up, leveling the match with a new 6-3.
He threw in character in the deciding set, against a Hurkacz who had won all five finals played in his career up to that point. Carreño came out of a delicate situation at 30-30 with his serve, with a wonderful passing backhand, and, after winning the game, he broke it to 30 to take a 2-1 lead.
He was the protagonist, with the 3-2 in the light, of the most spectacular point of the match, when he covered 76 meters, recovering a Vaseline on the Hurkcacz line and sealing the point with a backhand shot. He was intractable on serve and achieved a new ‘break’ with 5-3 to sentence the match with the final 6-3which allowed him to release all his joy for the most important title of his life.
Carreño, who was a semifinalist at the US Open in 2017, knocked down a Hurkacz who was in his second final 1,000, after winning Miami 2021 against Jannik Sinner. The Pole lost the opportunity to attack the eighth position in the world ranking, which would be the highest of his career.
Both Carreno and Hurkacz they will compete again next week at the Cincinnati tournament, the last Masters 1,000 before the start of the US Open. The Spaniard will debut on the cement of the Lindner Family Tennis Center against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic.