Humbert extends perfect record with Dubai title
The Frenchman has never yet lost a tour-level title match
Ugo Humbert, Dubai 2024 – © Kamran Jebreili/AP/SIPA
If you get Ugo Humbert in an ATP Tour final, you know your card is marked. The Frenchman lifted his sixth trophy as he beat Alexander Bublik 6-4, 6-3 in the Dubai final – extending his perfect record in tour finals, six wins out of six.
He is only the third man in the Open Era to achieve this, following Ernests Gulbis and Martin Klizan.
And he is the second player this year to win an ATP title after saving match points in earlier rounds, which he needed to do three times against Hubert Hurkacz in the quarter-finals. The other man to do it in 2024 was Bublik, who saved a trio of match points against Denis Shapovalov in Montpellier.
“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 afterwards when asked about his amazing record in finals. “I have a really good team around me.”
The two had never played each other on tour before, and Humbert was aggressive from the off, nudging Bublik further and further back, and needing only his second match point to win his second ATP 500 crown, and his second title overall of the year following his win in Marseille.
He will rise to a new career-high ranking of world No 14 on Monday, the first Frenchman to break the top 15 since Gael Monfils.
For his part, Bublik will also reach a new career high, breaking the top 20 for the first time.
