Hubert Hurkacz: 'I hope to inspire Polish kids to embrace tennis'

• Tennis News
• ATP Tennis

World no. 37 Hubert Hurkacz will lead Poland at the inaugural ATP Cup against Austria, Croatia and Argentina, joined by Kamil Majchrzak, Kacper Zuk, Wojciech Marek and Lukasz Kubot. The 22-year-old from Wroclaw kicked off the season from outside the top-80, winning a Challenger title in Canberra and advancing into the quarter-final at Indian Wells before losing to Roger Federer.

The Pole claimed the first ATP title in Winston-Salem, dropping six of the last eight encounters of the season but still doing enough to close the year in the top-40 for the first time. Hubert is excited about the ATP Cup, ready to give his best under the national jersey and spend some quality time with his teammates in Sydney while facing strong rivals in the battle for the quarter-final.

The youngster would love to see more Polish kids on tennis courts and to serve as a role model for some of them. "I remember being on the court hitting some balls. I was very young and I had a bigger racquet. I loved competing.

Playing all those matches and tournaments was a lot of fun for me. I looked up to my mom who was the Polish junior champion and also Michal Przysiezny, trailing with him and receiving tips and advice that helped me to become an even better player than him.

It is unbelievable for Poland to qualify for the ATP Cup that should be very fun, allowing us to represent our countries, fight against each other and prepare for the Australian Open. Whey you play singles tournaments, you only have your team behind you and at team events there are also your teammates, which always helps.

Kamil Majchrzak and Lukasz Kubot are also in the top-100 and it is nice to spend time with them and speak your own language while being away from home. In the future, I hope to achieve some big goals and inspire a lot of children in Poland to go out and play tennis, maybe to be their role model as well."