Ugo Humbert in the quarterfinals in Beijing after victory over Andrey Rublev

Ugo Humbert, in a race to get back to his best, took an important step forward in Beijing on Saturday. After a hard-fought win over world No. 6 Andrey Rublev, the Frenchman will now play in the quarterfinals.

Remember the incidences of the match

The last time Ugo Humbert dominated a Top 10 player was at Wimbledon 2022, in the person of Casper Ruud. A symbol of their struggles in the last two seasons. But perhaps the Tricolore is about to see the light at the end of the tunnel, as it has just pulled off a superb victory in the knockout stages of the ATP 500 tournament in Beijing against none other than Andrey Rublev.

And it took some hard work to overtake the world No. 6, who looked dominant at the start of the encounter. However, the Frenchman did not give up, forcing his rival to serve twice in the first set before concluding it. Humbert looked to have started badly but reacted perfectly to break early in the second set and take a 3-0 lead. This was an advantage he maintained for the rest of the set as he seriously improved his serve game.

After an exchange of breaks at the start of the last set, it looked like the Frenchman had lost when, just as he was serving to regain the 4-4, he gave up his serve after some resistance. But just as he was serving for the game, Rublev collapsed completely and conceded the break point, logically pushing the two men into a final tiebreak. There, Humbert took the lead, frustrating a rather angry Russian who eventually conceded 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (3) after two hours and 50 minutes of battle.

It was an excellent win to boost the confidence of Ugo Humbert, who qualified for the quarterfinals of the China Open. His opponent will be none other than Daniil Medvedev. Surprisingly, he leads 2-0 in his head-to-head with the Russian. However, you won’t have any guarantees, but if you play as well as you do today, you’ll have a chance.