SYDNEY, Jan.8 (Xinhua) -- Poland beat Austria 2-1 in Sydney at ATP Cup on Wednesday, as Hubert Hurkacz surprisingly outplayed Dominic Thiem, while Kacper Zuk dominated over Dennis Novak.
After loses against Argentina and Croatia, Poland had no chance to advance into the quarterfinals. However, on Wednesday they were able to secure their first win in the inaugural edition of the ATP Cup.
Hubert Hurkacz proved once again that he has the quality to become a great player in the future. "Hubi" came from behind to make a surprise and beat World No. 4 Dominic Thiem 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5).
"It's definitely one of the most important successes in my career. In the early stage, Dominic played a great game and it was very difficult for me to resist him in any way. Later, I started to do better, mainly thanks to the fact that I had good preparation. I worked hard with my trainers and it turned to be fruitful", admitted Hurkacz in the interview for Przeglad Sportowy.
It has been a good week for as the Pole, as he also prevailed over the Argentinian Diego Schwartzman and Borna Coric from Croatia in the tournament.
Thanks to Hurkacz's victory Poland secured their win over Austria as earlier in the day Kacper Zuk turned out to be too strong for Dennis Novak by beating him 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3. "That's my first match against that high-ranked ATP player. So for me, it means a lot and I hope I will have more chances to play against guys like that. It's a good experience because I could perform for our country", Zuk was quoted as saying by the official site of the ATP Cup.
In the last match, Oliver Marach and Jurgen Melzer earned a consolation win over Hurkacz and former doubles World No. 1 Lukasz Kubot 6-7(3), 6-3, 11-9.
The ATP Cup runs from January 3 to 12, with the group stage matches are played across three cities - Perth, Brisbane and Sydney - and the finals to be played in Sydney alone.
24 teams battle through the group stage - versing each country in their pool in two singles and a doubles match - to reach the final eight teams, in a format similar to that of the football World Cup.
