Hubert Hurkacz was left fuming after he lost a crucial point at the 2024 Miami Open due to touching a net, which he thought he didn't do.
The Polish player battled against Grigor Dimitrov at the Miami Open for a long time. Dimitrov ultimately won the match in the third-set tie-break, improving to a 4-0 H2H record against Hurkacz, who lifted the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Miami a few years ago.
The moment of the match happened in the tie-break of the final set when the Polish player lost a crucial point due to the umpire ruling that he touched the net. At the event that struggled with the hawk-eye live system, this time it wasn't about that.
After Hurkacz won the first set 6-3, he lost the second 3-6, and with the score locked at 2-2 in the tie-break of the third set, the point was crucial.
By rule, touching the net, no matter how brief, is an automatic point for the opponent. The interpretation of the rule was not the problem, Hurkacz simply wasn't happy about it because he didn't feel like he touched it.
He couldn't really see whether he touched it or not because he focused on the ball, and he admitted that he didn't feel the net after the match, while Dimitrov said he didn't see the situation clearly.
The replay ultimately showed that Hurkacz touched the net slightly, so the umpire, Jimmy Pinoargote, was correct in ruling in favor of Dimitrov. Hurkacz clearly didn't like it and threw his racquet, which is a pretty rare thing for him to do.
He's not known as an explosive player, but the heat of the moment and the way he lost the point certainly got to him. It completely threw his focus out of sorts, and he would ultimately lose the tie-break 3-7 and with it, also the match.
What was good to see was him and Dimitrov talking about the moment on the net when they shook hands after the Bulgarian won 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(3).
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