Ugo Humbert will taste the pleasure of a final on Sunday and it will be at the Open Blot, the Challenger tournament in Rennes. The French mastered his subject on Saturday against the German Peter Gojowczyk (6-3, 6-4), notably hitting ten aces and preserving his service games from start to finish.
After his fall in the ATP ranking (from 25th in June 2021 to 139th this week), the 24-year-old Messin had to go back to the “Challengers” box since the end of July. Until this week, he had stumbled three times in the semi-finals (Pozoblanco, Segovia and Vancouver), and each time against a Frenchman (Barrère, Grenier, Lestienne).
First final in almost two years for Thiem
Sunday, he will play for the title (and for a return to around 110th place in the world) against the Austrian Dominic Thiem. Also in search of his past luster, the winner of the US Open 2020 will play in Brittany his first final since that of the Masters 2020, lost against Medvedev.
On Saturday, Thiem (216th ATP) first flew over his first round, in the semi-finals, against a Hugo Gaston (85th and seeded No. 1 in the tournament), who absolutely couldn’t get him out of his comfort zone. The Austrian had time to adjust each time (6-2). More biting in the second set, Gaston missed two balls 5-3 before finally losing 6-2, 7-5. On Sunday, Thiem and Humbert will meet for the first time.
