Humbert triumphs in Dubai

Ugo Humbert maintained his perfect record in ATP Tour finals on Saturday at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, where he defeated Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-3 to win the title.

The Frenchman now holds a 6-0 record in tour-level title matches, with his victory in Dubai his second at ATP 500 level. In 2021, he clinched the crown at the ATP 500 grass-court event in Halle.

"I played a fantastic level during the whole week. Today was not easy... I really don't know, but I have a good statistic," Humbert said when asked about winning six tour-level finals out of six. "I have a really good team around me."

In his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting against Bublik, Humbert played aggressively to dictate from the baseline. The 25-year-old ripped his forehand to push Bublik deep, striking 27 winners according to Infosys ATP Stats.

When serving for the match, Humbert fended off a break point with a backhand winner, before he closed out on his second match point to triumph after one hour and 27 minutes. He is 13-3 on the season.

"He is not easy to play against. He had some opportunities to break me, but I was really calm and knew exactly what I had to do," Humbert added.

Humbert, who defeated World No. 4 Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals, will rise to a career-high No. 14 in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday. He is the first Frenchman inside the Top 15 since Gael Monfils in May 2021.

Earlier this season, Humbert clinched the trophy on home soil in Marseille. The fifth seed was making his debut in Dubai and is the third French champion at the event, joining Jerome Golmard (1999) and Fabrice Santoro (2002).

Bublik was chasing his second tour-level trophy of the season, having triumphed in Montpellier in February. The 26-year-old will debut in the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday at No. 19.