DUBAI: Ugo Humbert possessed an excellent record in the ATP Tour finals at the Dubai Tennis Championships as the World No. 18 defeated Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-3 in the summit clash to win the title. After winning his second ATP 500 match in Dubai, the Frenchman now has a 6-0 record in title matches at the tour level. He won the title at the ATP 500 grass-court tournament in Halle in 2021.
"I played at a fantastic level during the whole week. Today was not easy... I don't know, but I have a good statistic, I have a really good team around me," Humbert said as quoted by ATP. According to ATP Stats, the 25-year-old crushed his forehand to push Bublik deep and win 27 games.
After an hour and twenty-seven minutes, Humbert won the match by holding off a break point with a backhand winner while serving for the match. "He is not easy to play against. He had some opportunities to break me, but I was calm and knew exactly what I had to do," Humbert added. In the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday, Humbert--who won over World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev in the semifinals--will climb to a career-high No. 14.
Since Gael Monfils in May 2021, he is the first Frenchman to appear in the Top 15. Humbert won the trophy in his native Marseille earlier in the season.
The fifth seed, who was making his Dubai debut, is the third French champion in the history of the competition, after Fabrice Santoro (2002) and Jerome Golmard (1999). Bublik, who had won in Montpellier in February, was going for his second tour-level trophy of the year. On Monday, the 26-year-old will make his Top 20 PIF ATP Rankings debut at No 19.