By Richard Pagliaro | Saturday, June 19, 2021
Ugo Humbert hit two aces in the tie breaker edging Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) to reach his first grass-court final in Halle.
Photo credit: Noventi Open Facebook
A trip to the Halle final came down to a final tie breaker.
Ugo Humbert was extra special in the extra session.
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Humbert hit two of his eight aces and nicked the sideline with a backhand down the line playing a near flawless tie breaker out-dueling Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(5) to reach his first grass-court final at the Noventi Open.
The French left-hander has shown his grit scoring all four of his tournament wins in three sets this week, including a 7-6-in-the-third set win over former Wimbledon semifinalist Sam Querrey in his opener and a 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3 win over third-seeded Alexander Zverev in the round of 16.
It's the third career final for the 22-year-old Frenchman, who will play for his third ATP title after capturing 2020 championships in Antwerp and Auckland. Humbert avenged a 7-6(5), 7-6(8) loss to Auger-Aliassime in last week's Stuttgart quarterfinals scoring his second grass-court win in three meetings over the talented Canadian.
Humbert will play Andrey Rublev in tomorrow's final.
Earlier, the fourth-seeded Russian repelled Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 advancing to his first career grass-court final.
Rotterdam champion Rublev raised his 2021 record to 33-9 reaching his third final of the season. The seventh-ranked Rublev will play for his ninth career ATP title tomorrow.
The day's second semifinal saw the pair exchange breaks in the second and third game as Humbert's deep return rattled out a framed forehand from the Canadian for the third-game break.
Serving at 2-3, the left-handed Frenchman fended off a pair of break points, lashing an ace down the T to erase the second brak point, eventually working through a six-minute hold leveling after six games.
Empowered by that stand, Humbert hit deep returns drawing successive errors to break for 4-3.
Throughout the set, Humbert's skill driving returns off second serves right back through the middle of the court proved positive. Humbert won eight of 11 points played on the Canadian's second serve in the opener.
Sliding a slice ace down the middle, Humbert sealed the 48-minute first set in style winning six of the final eight games to move within one set of the final.
Taking the first strike on the firm Halle grass, Humbert broke to start the second set and backed up the break with a clever forehand drop shot that left Auger-Aliassime sprawling behind the baseline as he tried, in vain, to reach the ball.
Staring down a 1-3, double-break point deficit, Auger-Aliassime began driving through his shots, attacking Humbert's forehand and asserting his explosiveness to completely turn the set around. Auger-Aliassime curled a forehand in the corner for break point in the sixth game and broke back for 3-all when Humbert netted a forehand.
Wrong-footing the Frenchman with a sharp inside-out forehand, Auger-Aliassime sent Humbert crashing to the grass trying to change direction as he broke again for 5-3.
Serving to force a final set, Auger-Aliassime slid a slice backhand off the baseline charging through 12 of the final 14 points to snatch the second set and force a decider.
Confronting a double break-point deficit, Humbert stood tall. The Frenchman fought off three break points in all stinging a couple of aces in navigating a hard-fought hold for a 4-3 third-set lead.
The world No. 21 rapped a return down the middle that helped him earn double break point in the ninth game. Humbert saved the second break point with a shout then slashed a forehand pass down the line a diving Auger-Aliassime could not control. Humbert held for 5-4.
Down match point in the ensuing game, Auger-Aliassime rocketed an ace out wide to save but scattered a drive to face a second match point. The Canadian cracked another wide serve to erase match point number two, eventually holding.
Scorching a backhand down the line, Humbert snatched a 4-1 lead in the breaker. Humbert slid his eighth ace short in the box and followed lashing a backhand off the sideline for three more match points. On his fifth match point, Humbert pounded a big serve down the middle closing in two hours, 33 minutes with a shout.
The fourth-seeded Rublev won his lone meeting with Humbert 7-5-in-the-third set at the 2020 St. Petersburg.