Tennis - ATP 500 - Dubai Tennis Championships - Dubai Duty Free Tennis Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates - March 2, 2024 France's Ugo Humbert in action during the final against Kazakhstan's Alexander Bublik REUTERS/Satish Kumar
DUBAI (Reuters) -Fifth seed Ugo Humbert produced a near-flawless performance to outclass Kazakh Alexander Bublik 6-4 6-3 and capture the Dubai Tennis Championships title on Saturday for his second trophy this season.
By lifting the title, the 25-year-old Frenchman became only the third player in the professional era to win his first six tour-level finals, matching the achievement of Latvia's Ernests Gulbis and Slovakia's Martin Klizan.
"I really don't know, but I have a good statistic," Humbert said about his ability to rise to the occasion in title clashes. "I have a really good team around me."
The in-form Marseille champion edged a tight opening set when seventh seed Bublik fired a double fault in the 10th game as he chanced his arm and attempted a big second serve in a desperate bid to hold.
"It's not easy to play against Bublik," said Humbert, who will climb four places to a career-high world ranking of number 14 when the list is updated on Monday.
"I stayed really calm and really focused. He had some opportunities to break me in the first set but I knew exactly what I had to do."
Left-hander Humbert, who took out top seed and Australian Open runner-up Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, showcased his superb defensive skills to earn a chance to break in the next set and pounced for a 3-1 lead when Bublik found the net.
He unleashed a monster forehand to go 5-2 ahead before a smiling Bublik looked to throw a spanner in the works by riding a wave of support from the Centre Court crowd.
But Humbert held his nerve two games later as he saved a breakpoint and wrapped up the match on his second championship point with a passing winner.
"For sure I was a bit stressed (in the final game)," added Humbert, who dropped to the floor in delight following the win before joining his team in the stands in emotional scenes.
"It was a little bit tight two or three points but I knew that it would be normal and was ready to suffer. I managed to play well in the last point."
It was a missed opportunity for Bublik to win his second tour-level title this year following his Montpellier triumph.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar and Christian Radnedge)
