Ugo Humbert capped a dramatic week Sunday, when he captured the title at ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Cagliari, Italy.

The Frenchman downed fourth seed Laslo Djere 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the final to lift the trophy at the Sardegna Open. Humbert fended off 12 of 16 break points in an entertaining three-hour, eight-minute battle.

A three-time tour-level titlist, World No. 77 Humbert saved three match points against Taro Daniel in a four-hour, 13-minute quarter-final marathon on Friday to keep his title hopes alive.

Hear from the Cagliari champ himself 👇#ATPChallenger | @HumbertUgo pic.twitter.com/2QMOaTnUa7

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 7, 2023

Humbert’s first clay-court title came as a welcomed surprise to the Metz-native.

“I will never forget this trophy because I hate clay normally, never won more than two matches in a row on clay,” Humbert said in his post-match press conference. “It feels unbelievable to have the trophy today… I don’t know what to think, I’m just super happy.

“Laslo is a hell of player, because he always puts one more ball in the court. After about two hours, it became more physically and [mentally tough]. I stayed very strong.”

Djere will rue the two break chances he missed at 4-4 in the second set, which would have given the Serbian an opportunity to serve for the championship had he converted one of them. World No. 70 Djere also held an early break lead in the decider before sixth seed Humbert stormed back to win the Italian title.

“It gives me a lot of confidence two weeks before Roland Garros to play matches more than three, four hours,” Humbert said. “For sure I will be ready for Roland Garros.”

Humbert, who reached a career-high No. 25 in 2021, has won 10 of his past 11 finals across all levels. His triumph in Sardinia added to France’s early lead for most Challenger titles this season (9).

In Cagliari doubles action, Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler defeated top seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 7-6(6), 6-3 to win the Challenger 175 title.

The last ones standing in Cagliari ☝️🏆#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/ScdZXUPKDW

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 7, 2023

Carlos Alcaraz took the lead in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin on Sunday by winning the Mutua Madrid Open. It is the first time this season the Spaniard has led the Live Race.

The 20-year-old in Madrid passed both Daniil Medvedev (3,300 points) and Novak Djokovic (2,565 points) to surge into the top spot. He owns a 110-point advantage over Medvedev leading into the Internazionali BNL d’Italia, the season’s fifth ATP Masters 1000 event.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin

The Live Race serves as the year-to-date standings and the barometer for the battle to finish as the year-end ATP No. 1 presented by Pepperstone. Last year, then-19-year-old Alcaraz became the youngest year-end No. 1 in history. The Live Race also determines the qualifiers for the Nitto ATP Finals, which will be held in Turin at the Pala Alpitour from 12-19 November.

After Rome, Alcaraz is also poised to return to World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, which accounts for a player’s results over the past 52 weeks.

When the Internazionali BNL d’Italia draw is released, Alcaraz will lead Novak Djokovic by 995 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. By playing his first match, he will earn at least 10 points, guaranteeing his return to World No. 1.

Alcaraz is now 29-2 on the season with four titles. After missing the Australian swing due to injury, the Spaniard has triumphed in Buenos Aires, Indian Wells, Barcelona and Madrid. His earliest loss of the year came in the semi-finals of Miami to Jannik Sinner.

The player Alcaraz defeated in the Madrid final, Jan-Lennard Struff, climbed 18 places to 13th in the Live Race with 1,102 points. The German is within 428 points of eighth-placed Karen Khachanov for the final qualifying spot for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Carlos Alcaraz captured his fifth ATP Masters 1000 title Sunday when he overcame German lucky loser Jan-Lennard Struff 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to successfully defend his crown at the Mutua Madrid Open.

The 20-year-old Spaniard joined Rafael Nadal as the only consecutive Madrid champions in tournament history and is the youngest player to successfully defend an ATP Masters 1000 title since Nadal at Monte-Carlo and Rome in 2005-06.

With his 29th win of the season and 10th tour-level title, Alcaraz will rise to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings after playing his opening match in Rome.

“For me it is so, so special,” Alcaraz said. “To lift the trophy here in Madrid. In my country. It is always special to play and to be able to do a good result here and [being] a champion is so special. In front of my home crowd, my family, my friends. Everyone close to me. For me it is a special feeling that I will never forget.”

Alcaraz struggled on serve at times throughout the two-hour, 25-minute final, winning just 60 per cent (27/45) of his first-serve points in the opening two sets. The top seed battled hard, though, and survived an attacking bombardment from the big-serving German. He blasted his explosive groundstrokes at the incoming Struff with authority and precision in the third set, striking nine winners in the third set to triumph.

“It was a really tough match,” Alcaraz said. “Jan was playing great, really aggressive. In the second set I had a lot of chances to break his serve and I didn’t take it and it was tough for me to lose it. I told myself that I had to be positive all the time and that I would have my chances and I think I did it in the third set.”

Alcaraz has now earned 21 consecutive wins at Spanish clay-court events and improved to 2-1 in his ATP Head2Head series against Struff. The 33-year-old Struff was the first lucky loser to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final since the series started in 1990 and was aiming to become just the fourth player and first in more than 20 years to win his first tour-level trophy at an ATP Masters 1000.

Struff, who upset Stefanos Tsitsipas and avenged his qualifying loss against Aslan Karatsev en route to his second tour-level final, is up to No. 28 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings.

Alcaraz has won four tour-level titles this season. He triumphed on clay in Buenos Aires and Barcelona and clinched the crown on hard in Indian Wells. With his victory in the Spanish captital, he took the lead in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. It is the first time this season Alcaraz has led the Live Race.

“Once again it has been amazing. The crowd, my people, since the first day, were cheering my name,” Alcaraz added. “It is really amazing to have a lot of people behind you and supporting you and pushing you on.”

The defending champion survived heavy-hitting from the German throughout the 53-minute first set, hanging in rallies with his exceptional agility to force Struff into errors. Alcaraz gained what proved to be the decisive break of the first set at 3-3 when Struff double faulted, battled from 0/40 to hold when serving for the set.

Struff responded by striking his clean-hitting groundstrokes with authority against Alcaraz. He serve and volleyed throughout the second set and crucially saved five break points at 3-1 to hold before levelling the match.

Alcaraz won just 60 per cent (27/45) of his first-serve points in the first and second sets but improved to 81 per cent (17/21) in the decider. He began to win the lengthy exchanges and hit with more freedom as the match went. He also pulled Struff around the court with his drop shot to earn victory.

Did You Know?
At 20 years old and two days, Alcaraz is the sixth-youngest player to win 10 tour-level tournaments in the Open Era.

Roger Federer and Juan Martin del Potro enjoyed a reunion on Sunday at the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix.

The pair shared a hug before the start of the race, which is held around Hard Rock Stadium, home of the Miami Open presented by Itau.

@rogerfederer @F1 @f1miami @atptour
❤️ pic.twitter.com/lh5jOZNK4y

— Juan M. del Potro (@delpotrojuan) May 7, 2023

Federer and Del Potro shared a special ATP Head2Head rivalry, competing in 25 tour-level matches — including six finals — against one another. 

Both men have shown an interest in Formula 1 before. Last year, Federer spent time with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell at the Spanish Grand Prix.

Del Potro, who attended the Miami race last year, caught up with polesitter Sergio Perez on Saturday.

CHECO 🤝 DELPO‼️

What a 🎾 x 🏎️ duo at @f1miami 😎 @delpotrojuan @SChecoPerez pic.twitter.com/DO6l5eAy4b

— Miami Open (@MiamiOpen) May 6, 2023

Federer was in the spotlight earlier in the week when he returned to the Met Gala. The Swiss star was joined at the event by tennis players including Serena Williams, Matteo Berrettini and Andy Roddick.

Andy Murray overcame a slow start and World No. 17 Tommy Paul to triumph Sunday at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Aix-en-Provence.

In front of a packed stadium in southern France, the Scot found consistency from the baseline to rally to a 2-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory against top seed Paul at the Open Aix Provence Credit Agricole.

“This last year, 18 months has been a bit of struggle with my game. But [my team] have been there supporting me and working with me to try and get better,” Murray said during the trophy presentation. “We keep going from here.”

^{Sunday’s final between Andy Murray and Tommy Paul filled the stands in Aix-en-Provence. Credit: Jared Wickerham/ATP Tour}

Murray earned his third Top-20 win of the season Sunday by defeating the World No. 17 Paul en route to capturing his third Challenger title and first since the Binghamton Challenger in 2005.

“The most important part of this week [was] the fans who came out to support,” Murray said. “The atmosphere from the very first match right to the end was incredible. It’s so important for these tournaments to have the support of the local community and you guys came out even before the tournament started.

“[During] the practice sessions, you were out here watching and supporting. It means a lot to the players, but it’s so important to this event as well.”

A three-time major champion, Murray’s victory in Aix-en-Provence is his first clay-court title at any level since winning the Rome ATP Masters 1000 event in 2016. Sunday’s triumph is Murray’s first title of any kind since claiming the ATP 250 event in Antwerp in 2019. Murray climbed to No. 42 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings thanks to his efforts in France. 

The former World No. 1 won 68 per cent of his second-serve points compared to 47 per cent for Paul. Murray earned nine break points in the match, converting four of them to triumph after one hour and 55 minutes.

Watch Full Match Replay

Nearly 24 hours after winning a four-hour quarter-final marathon, Ugo Humbert returned to court Saturday, when he advanced to the championship match at the Sardegna Open. The Frenchman will fight for the title against Laslo Djere, who rallied to upset second seed Ben Shelton at the ATP Challenger Tour 175 event in Cagliari.

The Frenchman Humbert ousted Daniel Elahi Galan 6-2, 7-6(3). Despite holding a 5-2 lead in the second set, including a match point on serve at 5-4, the 24-year-old was pushed to a tie-break before closing out the match in one hour, 41 minutes; a sharp contrast to Humbert’s four-hour, 13-minute victory against Taro Daniel in the quarter-finals, where he saved three match points to survive.

“I was just trying to do my best every point, even if I was serving for the match,” Humbert said in his post-match press conference. “You have to stay focused and wait for a good opportunity.”

Humbert, a seven-time Challenger champion, will aim for his first clay-court title in Sunday’s final.

“Normally I only win one or two matches on clay per year, but I’m enjoying it this year,” Humbert said. “Super proud to be in the final.”

Fourth seed Djere defeated World No. 38 Ben Shelton 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach his first Challenger final since June 2018.

Laslo Djere celebrates a semi-final victory at the Sardegna Open. Credit: Mike Lawrence/ATP Tour

This isn’t the first time the Serbian Djere has found success in Cagliari. In 2020, Djere captured his second tour-level title at the ATP 250 event on the Italian island.

In doubles action, top seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni will contest third seeds Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler in the championship match.

Ready. For. This. 👊#ATPChallenger | @federtennis pic.twitter.com/dGoGLZJChG

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) May 6, 2023