09/30/2024 at 1:54 p.m. by AFP
Ugo Humbert qualified for the final of the ATP 500 tournament in Tokyo on Monday by beating the Czech Tomas Machac in three sets 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 and awaits the match between the other French Arthur Son and the Dane Holger Rune to know your opponent.
If Fils won, it would be the first Franco-French final on the ATP circuit since January 2020 and the duel between Humbert, already, and Benoît Paire in Auckland, which had turned to the advantage of the former.
The French No.1, 26, has won the six finals he has played in to date, including two this season in Marseille and then in Dubai in February. In the emirate, he won his second ATP 500, the third category of the circuit after the Grand Slams and the Masters 1000, after Halle in 2021.
Despite losing the second set, Humbert won without too much trembling, having not had to defend a single break point in the two sets he won. It was the first time he faced the 23-year-old Czech, 34th in the world.
To join his compatriot, Son will have to achieve his third big performance of the week against Rune (14th in the world). The Ile-de-France native, 24th in the ATP and French N.2, aged 20, has already eliminated Taylor Fritz7th in the world and recent finalist of the US Open, then in the quarter-finals on Sunday the other American Ben Sheltondefending champion in Tokyo, an indoor hard court tournament.
