Humbert Beats Italy’s Sinner, Leaves Milan With A Win

Although Ugo Humbert didn’t advance out of round-robin play at the Next Gen ATP Finals, he ended his season with another milestone moment on Thursday by defeating Jannik Sinner 4-3(5), 3-4(3), 4-2, 4-2 for his maiden win in Milan.

“I played a great match. It was the last match of the season and I’m happy to have won it against a great player. It was really nice,” Humbert said. “It was a big improvement this year. I played a lot of great matches against good players. I have a lot of experiences, sometimes new ones, and I have a lot of confidence for the next season.”

The Frenchman finished with a 1-2 record in Group B. Sinner had already advanced to the semi-finals after defeating Mikael Ymer on Wednesday for his second win of the week. The 18-year-old Italian will face Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic in Friday’s semi-final lineup.

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There were no break points in the opening set. But while Sinner and Humbert were even on serve, the Italian struggled to find his range in the baseline exchanges. He saved a set point at 4/6 with a backhand winner, but hit a forehand into the net on the next point to give the Frenchman an early lead.

Humbert earned another break at 2-1 in the second set, but Sinner fought back as the home crowd urged him on. He leaned into a powerful backhand in the next game to break back and won 11 of the last 14 points in the set to level the score.

But while the Italian teenager’s intensity never wavered, he was unable to find the level he showed in his first two matches this week. Sinner hit 30 errors on the night, compared to a tidy 16 for Humbert, with a final backhand pushed long ending the match after one hour and 44 minutes.