By Canadian Press

Pablo Carreno Busta beats Hubert Hurkacz to win National Bank Open

Aug 14, 2022 | 4:37 PM

MONTREAL — Pablo Carreno Busta defeated Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the men’s singles final at the National Bank Open on Sunday.

The unseeded Spaniard picked up an early break in the decisive third set en route to his first career Masters 1000 series title.

It was Carreno Busta’s seventh career ATP Tour victory overall. He became the first unseeded player to win this tournament since Argentina’s Guillermo Canas in 2002.

Hurkacz, the No. 8 seed from Poland, had his power game working in the early going on a glorious afternoon at IGA Stadium.

He led all players in aces this week and his serve was in form again as he controlled the first set in a tidy 31 minutes. Carreno Busta upped his pace in the second set and took advantage of some Hurkacz miscues. 

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A Hurkacz double-fault and three unforced errors gave Carreno Busta a 2-0 lead and the Spaniard retained the edge to force a deciding set. 

Carreno Busta couldn’t match Hurkacz’s service power – few players can – but quality groundstroke placement and nice touch on his volleys proved effective.

After an early service break in the third, he showed his remarkable retrieval skills on one of the best points of the tournament.

Hurkacz landed a shot in the back corner that Carreno Busta managed to chase down with a desperation lob that landed just inside the line. The rally continued for a few shots before the Spaniard used a jumping backhand putaway to take the point.

Carreno Busta extended his arms to take in the standing ovation from the sellout crowd of 11,715 while Hurkacz chucked his racket on the hardcourt in frustration.

The Spaniard broke Hurkacz’s serve again in the final game to seal the win in one hour 45 minutes.

Hurkacz, who won his first Masters 1000 title last year in Miami, fell to 5-1 in ATP Tour finals. The 23rd-ranked Carreno Busta improved to 7-5 in final appearances.

Unseeded American Reilly Opelka reached last year’s final in Toronto but lost to top-ranked Daniil Medvedev of Russia.

In the doubles final, the third-seeded duo of Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Neal Skupski of Britain were scheduled to play John Peers of Australia and Daniel Evans of Britain on Sunday evening.

Evans reached the semifinals in singles but was eliminated by Carreno Busta, who earned US$915,295 of the $6.57-million overall purse. Hurkacz picked up $499,830 as a finalist.

Organizers said a tournament record 237,733 spectators took in the action over the week, more than 14,000 more than the previous mark in 2019.  

The men’s tournament will be played next year in Toronto and the women’s WTA Tour event will return to Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 14, 2022.

Follow @GregoryStrongCP on Twitter.

Gregory Strong, The Canadian Press