Hubert Hurkacz’s murderous fight. A Pole performed miracles in Paris!

So where does this certainty come from? The Pole and the American treated the fans to a battle that the best scriptwriter would be ashamed of, creating a tennis show of the highest level. On Thursday (May 28) afternoon in Paris, Hubert Hurkacz proved that his current place in the ATP ranking has nothing to do with his real sports possibilities.

Finally, the number 22 player in the world stood on the other side of the net. And yet the Pole, who was ranked 99th before coming to Paris, fought an almost five-hour battle with his opponent.

Hubert Hurkacz lost in Paris. Fans will remember this battle for a long time!

Unfortunately, in tennis the most important thing is who wins the last point in the match. And this one fell to the American after almost five hours of play. Hurkacz was leading 1-0 in sets throughout the match, then had to chase down the score 1-2 and even 4-5 in the fourth game and the opponent’s service game. But the tennis player from Wrocław was able to break Tiafoe and first equalize the score to 5:5, and then win the tie-break convincingly 7:1.

However, Hurkacz can still blame himself for the fact that in matches in which he looks better than his opponent – and this was the case from the end of the fourth game – he is unable to close such duels victoriously. The tenth game of the fifth game turned out to be crucial. Tiafoe, who couldn’t get close to the Pole considering his service quality, suddenly started taking advantage of his opponent’s mistakes. And he added some really quality plays.

Effect? Hurkacz lost the game to zero (!) and the set ended with the score 4:6 from the Pole’s perspective. And the whole match was 2:3, after a really great spectacle that made people clap their hands in applause. It’s certainly a pity to have such a finish, because Hurkacz could have joined as many as three Polish singles players in the third round of Roland Garros 2026.

What’s more, on Friday (May 29) at noon in Paris, the Polish match for the fourth round will take place. Iga Świątek will face Magda Linette.

Roland Garros 2026. Where and when to watch the tournament in Paris?

It is worth recalling that Iga Świątek won the Grand Slam event in the French capital four times. The Pole won for the first time in 2020. Then Świątek truly “introduced herself” to a wider audience.

Successes in the form of wins on the courts. The best Polish tennis player also repeated Roland Garros in 2022, 2023 and 2024. Last season, Świątek reached the semi-finals of the event, losing to Aryna Sabalenka after a three-set match. However, the Belarusian did not win the cup in Paris, because it ultimately fell to the American Coco Gauff. The US tennis player will therefore defend her championship title.

The list of Świątek’s successes in Paris also includes the Olympic medal, which the Pole won during the 2024 Games. Although the “Queen of Paris” was the main favorite for the Olympic gold medal, the Polish representative ultimately won the “consolation” in the form of a bronze medal. Looking at history, the first tennis event in the history of the Polish Olympic movement – which is certainly worth noting.

RG 2026 matches are shown on Eurosport, on a total of four channels of the station. Additionally, the online competition is available via the HBO Max platform. The competition in the main tournament is scheduled from May 24 to June 7.