Ugo Humbert wrapped up a contentious day of tennis at the ATP Dubai event on Friday, stunning top seeded holder Daniil Medvedev to set up a final with Alexander Bublik.
The Frenchman was making his debut at the Gulf event brings a perfect 5-0 record into the Saturday title match at the Aviation Club after setting Medvedev 7-5,6-3 in just under two hours.
Kazakh Bublik advanced in a controversial end to his semi-final with Andrey Rublev.
The second seed was disqualified in a shock ending after a linesperson claiming to speak Russian told the chair umpire that Rublev had sworn in his native tongue.
The player denied speaking anything but English but the decision to boot out the 2022 winner and 2023 finalist stood despite Bublik wanting to play on.
The atmosphere was tense when Medvedev and Humbert took to the court, but the French fifth seed went about ending the eight- match tournament win streak of world No. 4 Medvedev.
“I played a perfect match. Today was one of my best” the winner said.
It’s never easy to play Daniil, but I was ready for some rallies.
Last month’s Marseille titleholder said he “tried to bring everything to the court”
I played at a great level; it should be a good final. I’m super happy with my week.
