Humbert takes out Medvedev to reach Dubai final

The Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships will crown a new champion in Saturday’s final after a dramatic semi-final on Friday at Dubai Tennis Stadium, with French No. 5 seed Ugo Humbert and No. 7 seed Alexander Bublik set to face off for the famous trophy.

Humbert has looked relaxed during his debut in Dubai this week having seen off a resurgent Gael Monfils, former Dubai champion Andy Murray and World No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz on his way to the semi-final.

And he showed no signs of nerves in facing defending champion Medvedev, a winner of 20 ATP titles, to book his place in the final of the ATP 500 event.

The pair traded service games until game 12 when Humbert, who has won five ATP Tour titles, including one this year already in Marseille, broke the Medvedev serve to take the set 7-5.

Humbert took on the Medvedev serve in the second set and it paid off as he broke his opponent in the second game to take a 2-0 lead. The defending champion broke back immediately and squared matters at 2-2 as he looked to turn the tide.

However, Humbert didn’t falter and kept taking the game to his more experienced opponent, forcing another break in game eight. He followed that by holding his nerve and serve to take the second 6-3 and secure his passage into the final on his debut in Dubai.

Humbert’s fine victory followed dramatic scenes earlier on Centre Court, during which Andrey Rublev was announced as “defaulted” by chair umpire Miriam Bley with his semi-final with Alexander Bublik intriguingly poised at one set all (7-6, 6-7, 5-6).

Final bound in his Dubai debut 🙌@HumbertUgo knocks out the defending champ 7-5 6-3.@DDFTennis | #DDFTennis pic.twitter.com/Ow4qXfnAmM

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 1, 2024