Ugo Humbert was the big winner on day two of UTS Frankfurt on Saturday as the Frenchman, aka The Commander, booked his place in the UTS Grand Final in London in December. He’s now in the field with Andrey Rublev, Gaël Monfils, Alexander Bublik and Alex de Minaur.
The left-hander Humbert beat Dominic Thiem in dominant fashion in his final group match in Frankfurt to secure a semi-final spot - exactly what he needed for London - crowning a day when former US Open champion and world No 3 Thiem received a fitting send-off after playing his penultimate event before he retires from professional tennis next week.
“It was so nice, very emotional - an amazing farewell,” shared Thiem on Saturday. “It meant so much that it happened in Germany, here I have a special connection with the fans. But also very important that the players were there. I have been spending a lot of time with them in the last ten years.”
All to play for on final day
The semi-finals are set for the final day, with Thanasi Kokkinakis taking on Ben Shelton - in the opening match, followed by Lorenzo Musetti against Humbert. Shelton, Musetti and Kokkinakis must all win the event to join Humbert in the field in London.
It’s been a stunning debut for both Kokkinakis and Musetti, each of whom have reached the Final Four with three wins out of three. They did it the hard way, too, each coming from two sets down for victory on day two, Kokkinakis beating Humbert and Musetti ousting home favourite Jan-Lennard Struff, each in sudden death.
“I am not playing vs Kokkinakis. I am playing against Roger (Federer),” declared Denis Shapovalov, who gained his first-ever UTS victory over Thiem before losing to Kokkinakis in sudden death. “Just kidding. We call Kokki ‘Roger’ because he just plays so great here. He is jet lagged and doesn’t know where he is but plays unbelievable.”
Shelton, too, needed sudden death against Monfils to reach the semis for the second time in his UTS career, following on from his run at UTS Los Angeles last year, where he was defeated by eventual winner Yibing Wu. The Mountain faces Kokki for a place in the final, needing a win in Frankfurt to book a spot in London.
Monfils still managed to steal the limelight despite not progressing in Frankfurt, with the UTS veteran striking a brilliant air tweener currently breaking the Internet in his loss to Shelton.
Musetti, who has been equally impressive on his debut in the format, takes on Humbert in the second-semi-final. Humbert bounced back from his defeat by Kokkinakis early on day two by seeing off Thiem in three quarters.
But Thiem will remember UTS Frankfurt with fondness despite three losses from three matches after the Austrian was given a lovely send-off by organisers, with UTS founder Patrick Mouratoglou saying he will head into retirement knowing he had given everything he possibly had throughout his career.
Sunday schedule:12:30pm - Kokkinakis vs Shelton1:30pm - Musetti vs Humbert3pm - Final
Day two results:Kokkinakis beat Humbert 3-2 (12-17, 7-16, 15-11, 13-11, 2-1)Musetti beat Shelton 3-0 (16-11, 17-9, 19-10)Shapovalov beat Thiem 3-1 (19-9, 11-14, 14-10, 16-11)Struff beat Monfils 3-2 (14-16, 18-14, 9-21, 16-15, 2-0)Kokkinakis beat Shapovalov 3-2 (11-15, 16-7, 6-20, 13-11, 2-0)Musetti beat Struff 3-2 (9-18, 12-14, 16-14, 14-12, 2-0)Shelton beat Monfils 3-2 (19-10, 9-18, 20-10, 14-15, 2-0)Humbert beat Thiem 3-0 (17-7, 17-11, 17-9)
Day one results:Kokkinakis beat Thiem 3-0 (13-9, 14-11, 13-10)Shelton beat Struff 3-2 (15-16, 14-12, 17-13, 11-20, 2-0)Humbert beat Shapovalov 3-1 (16-11, 11-18, 14-13, 15-13)Musetti beat Monfils 3-0 (27-10, 17-12, 22-14)
