The American took the first set 7-5. After that, the match turned around: Hurkacz won the second set 6-3 and took the contest into a deciding set. There, everything was settled by the narrowest of margins: 6-4 in the Pole's favor and 2:1 in sets.
A run after Chengdu
Hurkacz came to Beijing after the tournament in Chengdu. There he beat Lloyd Harris (7-6, 6-4) and Denis Shapovalov (6-7, 6-3, 6-3), before losing to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the final 4-6, 6-7. He also claimed victory over Tien after dropping the first set, just as he did in the semifinal against Shapovalov.
For Tien, this is his third defeat in his last four matches. Before Beijing, he played two matches at the Laver Cup: he beat Flavio Cobolli (6-3, 2-6, 10-7) and lost to Alexander Zverev (6-7, 3-6). Earlier still, in the Davis Cup qualifying round, he went down to Jiří Lehečka 3-6, 5-7. In the head-to-head, Hurkacz now leads 1-0.