The Japan Open title is to be contested by two Frenchmen following their respective excellent semi-final performances in Tokyo in what will be the first all-French final on the tour in four years.
It feels good. It was not my best match this week, but I still have the win so I’m very proud of that Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert, who benefitted from Jack Draper’s second set retirement in the quarters, maintained his own excellent form to dispatch Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, 6-3 3-6 6-2 to make the title match of this ATP 500 event.
After Machac leveled at a set-all, Humbert raised his game at 2-2 of the decider, to reel off four consecutive games and advance to his third final of the season.
“It feels good. It was not my best match this week, but I still have the win so I’m very proud of that,” the 26-year-old Humbert said. “It was not easy. I had difficulties in the second set, but in the end, I found the solution and stayed calm. I’m into my seventh ATP Tour final, so I’m very happy.
“It was not easy, because he didn’t allow a lot of rhythm… At the end of the second set, I tried to speak to myself a little bit. After, the last four games were amazing.”
Also enjoying an excellent week is Arthur Fils who has battled hard to win four matches and reach the final scoring wins over the top seed Taylor Fritz in three sets, and then surviving five tiebreakers in the following three matches to get past Matteo Berrettini, the defending champion Ben Selton and now Holger Rune, the sixth seed.
(Photo by Kenta Harada/Getty Images)
His semi-final score was a bruising 7-6(8) 7-6(10) victory over a frustrated Dane who smashed his racket into splinters on losing the first set!
And the young Frenchman not only kept up the pressure but held firm to gain his victory after two-hours 23-minutes, sealing it with an incredible passing shot, the best he’s ever struck,
“It’s the best passing I ever hit in my whole life, man,” Fils explained to the ATP website.
“The passing went crazy. I was going exactly for this one and it went so good out of my racket. It was an amazing one. When I went to the passing, I got big cramps in the quads and I said to myself, ‘Okay, I need to win this one because otherwise I don’t know how I’m going to do it’.
“I saw the passing and just laid down because I was completely tired [from] the match and all the week.”
Fils will now look to secure a second title at ATP 500 level having won the title in Hamburg earlier this year when he defeated Alexander Zverev, but he has never beaten Humbert – who is chasing his third 500 title – in four previous encounters. Humbert also has an exemplary finals record having reached six and won them all.
But nothing seems to faze the 20-year-old now the third youngest finalist in the tournament’s history, who remarked: “It’s amazing. For now I’ve never beat him, so I’m going to come on the court as an underdog. We like this position, especially in the final. So let’s see how it [will] go.”
‘Allez Les Bleus’ as Fils wrote on the camera lens on leaving the court!
