That watershed moment comes and heady days immediately ensue, but as Hubert Hurkacz knows only too well, no one prepares you for the fall.

Dominic Thiem can largely attest following his maiden US Open in New York last September and his well-documented struggles since. While yet to come anywhere near those heights on the Grand Slam stage, Hurkacz did land a breakthrough of his own in April when he denied his good friend, the highly touted Italian Jannik Sinner, for the Miami Open title.

Having torn through six straight matches as the world No.37 to become Poland’s first Masters 1000 champion, predictions were forthcoming. The 24-year-old, however, was emotionally spent.

“I had a few tough weeks after Miami, I was probably a little bit tired afterwards,” Hurkacz said following a straight-sets victory over Alexander Bublik on Saturday

“My game was good, I just needed one match [victory] to feel more confident, and I feel I am now playing really well again.”

On Monday, he will contest his maiden fourth round showdown at a Grand Slam when he meets world No.2 Daniil Medvedev and could meet the might of eight-time champion Roger Federer in the quarter-finals. He is the only man yet to drop a set at The Championships in 2021 and has held serve 42 times from 42 service games.

It has been a dramatic change in fortunes. When Hurkacz rolled past in-form Italian teenager Lorenzo Musetti in the opening round it snapped a six-match losing streak. Since Miami, he had only won his subsequent singles match against Thomas Fabbiano in Monte Carlo back in April.

A particularly galling difficult defeat came when he capitulated from two sets up against Dutch qualifier Botic van de Zandschulp in the opening round at Roland-Garros.

A week later in Stuttgart, his prospects on grass did not look any brighter when as the No.2 seed he was edged out in his opening clash against 18-year-old Swiss wild card, world No.335 Dominic Stricker.

A doubles final in Halle alongside Felix Auger Aliassime helped restore some confidence, however, and for the first time in more than two months that form returned to the singles court at Wimbledon.

“This win feels special as it is the first time I’ve moved into the second week of a Grand Slam. I’m enjoying playing on grass. Sasha Bublik is a tricky opponent who serves great and has his unique style so today’s win wasn’t easy,” he wrote on Instagram.

The Pole’s improvement has been significant since he began working with renowned coach, Craig Boynton, just before Indian Wells in 2019. The American previously worked with former world No.1 Jim Courier, Mardy Fish, John Isner and Sam Querrey and immediately liked what he saw in his talented 6ft 5in charge.

“He’s a breath of fresh air. He’s a young talent, he’s good, he’s very good and there’s a lot of room for improvement so for me it was a no-brainer,” Boynton told ATP Uncovered.

“To work on new things together for the first time at tournaments is really difficult but he was amazing with the information we went over and he put it to work very quickly. Just kind of one thing led to another and the snowball got a little bigger, and a little bigger, and a little bigger.”

Hurkacz stands to become the fourth Polish man in history to reach a Wimbledon quarter-final following Wojtek Fibak in 1980, and Jerzy Janowicz and Lukasz Kubot, both in 2013.

But he was quick to hail the feats of Poland’s first Grand Slam singles champion, Iga Swiatek, and the enormous ripple effect of her triumph in Paris last October.

“I was super proud of Iga. What she has done there in French Open was amazing,” Hurkacz told the press following his Miami title run. “I think that gave the belief for us, for me, myself, and the younger players in Poland that it's possible to win those big titles.”

With Hurkacz’s confidence on the ascent once more and Swiatek on song, Poland may not have to wait so long for that next watershed moment.

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