Winner's Circle: Humbert wins maiden title at Auckland

Welcome to Winner's Circle, a segment where we review each winner of every ATP and WTA tournament during the truncated 2020 season.

In this edition, we shall follow Ugo Humbert as he powers through the draw to his first title, upsetting a lot of big names in the process.

ASB Classic
Winner: Ugo Humbert

The ASB Classic, hosted in Auckland, is the final tournament before the Australian Open. Therefore, several top players use this as a tune-up before the first Grand Slam of the season.

However, top seed Fabio Fognini and third-seeded Karen Khachanov were upset in their opening round matches. Unseeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert defeated Norwegian Casper Ruud 7-6(3) 2-6 6-3 in the opening round. He then proceeded to dispatch of 2018 French Open semifinalist Marco Cecchinato 6-1 6-4 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Awaiting Humbert was second seed Denis Shapovalov, who had won their sole previous meeting at the 2019 Lyon Open. The Frenchman put on the performance of his life, battling past Shapovalov 7-5 6-4 to reach his first semifinal of the year.

With a spot in the final at stake, Humbert faced a giant challenge in the towering John Isner. Humbert had lost to the American at the same stage in Newport the previous year. However, he put on a fantastic serving display, winning 100% of points on his first serve. Without facing a break point, Humbert withstood 12 aces from Isner to prevail 7-6(5) 6-4, and advance to his first-ever ATP final.

Joining Humbert was compatriot Benoit Paire, who defeated sixth seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-4 6-7(1) 6-2 in the other semifinal. Being the No.3 seed, most would expect Paire to have the advantage against his countryman. Furthermore, Paire had defeated Humbert at Winston-Salem the previous year, so he held the mental edge over his younger foe.

The final was a tight affair, with Humbert squandering a championship point at 5-4 in the final set. Youth eventually prevailed, as the 20-year old outlasted his opponent to win the match 7-6(2) 3-6 7-6(5) in two and a half hours.

After claiming his maiden title, Humbert saw his ATP ranking rise 14 spots to a career high of World No.43. The young Frenchman could now turn his attention to making a splash at the upcoming Australian Open.

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