Humbert Gets Revenge In Delray Beach

Sixth-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert needed all of his fighting qualities on Thursday at the Delray Beach Open by VITACOST.com, erasing a set point to battle past #NextGenATP Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-4, 7-6(6) and move into the quarter-finals.

Humbert broke Kecmanovic as the Serbian served for the second set at 6-5, then fought back from 5/6 in the tie-break to prevail after one hour and 43 minutes. The Frenchman picked up his first win over Kecmanovic in their ATP Head2Head series (1-3), taking revenge after losing to the 20-year-old last week in New York.

”It’s always tough to play against Miomir because he’s a great player. He always plays at a high level against me,” Humbert said. “I lost to him last week and was a little bit stressed before the match, so I’m very happy to get the win today. You have to enjoy the victory because it’s not easy every week.”

Humbert advanced to his third quarter-final of the year and moved to 8-3 this season. The 21-year-old captured his maiden ATP Tour title last month in Auckland (d. Paire).

“Winning in Auckland gave me a lot of confidence,” Humbert said. “I beat some great players, [but] I have to continue my improvements every day.”

Next up for the sixth seed is the winner of the all-American clash between Frances Tiafoe and Tommy Paul. Humbert fell to Tiafoe during round-robin action in last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals. 

The evening session will feature second-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic taking on German Cedrik-Marcel Stebe and Jack Sock squaring off with fellow American Steve Johnson.