(Reuters) – France’s Ugo Humbert produced a masterful performance to beat Australian eighth seed Alex de Minaur 6-1 7-6(4) and win his second ATP Tour title at the European Open in Antwerp on Sunday.
Having won his maiden title in Auckland in January, the 22-year-old Humbert impressed this week with a notable win over second seed Pablo Carreno Busta and was put to the test in the semi-final when he saved four match points against Dan Evans.
Humbert did not drop serve against De Minaur, winning an impressive 80% of his second serve points while he also dictated rallies, with forehand winners down the line a constant feature in a dominant opening set.
Humbert had the chance to break at 4-4 in the second set but De Minaur found his rhythm to take it to a tiebreak where the Frenchman converted his first match point with a drop volley.
“It is one of my biggest wins. I’m super happy to win my second title this year against a really great player,” Humbert said. “I was aggressive like (in) the previous matches and I am super happy to do it.
“Tennis is completely crazy sometimes. It was great to win against Evans yesterday (saving) four match points. I don’t know what happened today, it was a really nice level, a great match.”
Humbert is the third Frenchman to claim the Antwerp title since the tournament began four years ago following Richard Gasquet (2016) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2017).
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
