Stefanos Tsitsipas made the final at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters last year, but this year he stumbled against Hubert Hurkacz fairly early.
The Polish player is very tough to face in conditions like these. The serve was doing a lot of damage, especially against Tsitsipas, who isn't known for his pristine return. The Greek player started off this match rather badly, losing his serve early, and that was all the boost Hurkacz really needed.
On return, the Polish number one absorbed power really well, sending many balls back, and the Greek player, who recently talked about his sleeping habits following Los Cabos trip, simply didn't find a good way to attack him. Most of the points he did win came after he hit a very good serve.
Neither had too many mistakes in the opening set, but Hurkacz had more winners and used his break chance. Tsitsipas had 3 but didn't use any of them, and that was the difference. The second set opened with an early break once more; as you might imagine, it proved crucial.
The problem for Tsitsipas in this match was that he got broken early in both sets. He needed to keep his serve and apply as much pressure he could on return hoping for a chance. If that didn't work, then the tiebreak was the next-best chance to win. Losing your serve early in both sets simply lifted Hurkacz, who cruised through his service games after that.
It's the one thing he couldn't have let happen, and it and he did, early too. Other than that, he played a really solid match. He was winning points easily, it was a very fast-paced match because the serves did most of the damage and the rallies were short.
Ultimately it was Hurkacz who proved better in those circumstances. The final score was 6-3 6-4 as he moves on to face Alexei Popyrin.
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