Tennis news - Ugo Humbert beats Benoit Paire for maiden title at the Auckland Classic
ByReuters
Published 18/01/2020 at 09:34 GMT
Ugo Humbert won his maiden ATP Tour title with a 7-6(2) 3-6 7-6(5) win over fifth seed Benoit Paire in a thrilling all-French final at the Auckland Classic on Saturday.
Ugo Humbert of France holds up the trophy after winning the mens singles final against Benoit Paire of France on day six of the 2020 ASB Classic at the ASB Tennis Centre at ASB Tennis Centre on January 18, 2020 in Auckland
Image credit: Getty Images
Humbert raced to a 3-0 lead in the first set of the Australian Open warm-up event before Paire staged a comeback to force a tie-breaker.
Rising 21-year-old Humbert regained the upper hand to take a 1-0 lead but looked nervy in the second set, allowing Paire to draw level.
Paire looked jaded in the decider, having played five three-setters throughout the week, but refused to throw in the towel when Humbert served for the championship at 5-3.
Paire fired three consecutive backhand winners and went on to force another tie-break before Humbert finally sealed victory to ensure he will jump inside the top 45 for the first time on Monday.
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article
/images.sports.gracenote.com/images/lib/basic/geo/country/flag/large/2202.png)