Humbert accelerates past Machac for Tokyo final berth

Ugo Humbert successfully halted Tomas Machac’s mid-match momentum on Monday to book his spot in the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships final in Tokyo.

The Frenchman raised his level after a tough second set to seal a 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 semi-final triumph at the hard-court ATP 500. Humbert produced his best tennis of the match to reel off four straight games from 2-2 in the third set to advance to his third ATP Tour final of the season (Marseille, Dubai).

🇫🇷 ALLEZ LES BLEUS 🇫🇷@HumbertUgo overcomes Tomas Machac 6-3 3-6 6-2 to reach his 7th tour-level final.@japanopentennis | #kinoshitajotennis pic.twitter.com/G1B7brvnRd

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 30, 2024

“It feels good. It was not my best match this week, but I still have the win so I’m very proud of that,” said Humbert. “It was not easy. I had difficulties in the second set, but in the end, I found the solution and stayed calm. I’m into my seventh ATP Tour final, so I’m very happy.

“It was not easy, because he didn’t allow a lot of rhythm... At the end of the second set, I tried to speak to myself a little bit. After, the last four games were amazing.”

Humbert will seek to improve his perfect 6-0 record in tour-level finals when he takes on sixth seed Holger Rune or #NextGenATP Arthur Fils in Tuesday’s final in Tokyo. The Frenchman, who has risen four spots to No. 15 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run in Japan so far, is chasing his third ATP 500 crown after his victories in Halle in 2021 and Dubai earlier this year.