GATINEAU, March 3, 2018
Dominik Köpfer, top seed of the 11th edition of the Gatineau Futures presented by the Turpin Group, National Bank Financial, lost in the semi-finals of the $25,000 ITF Pro Circuit event. Ugo Humbert of France defeated the 23-year-old German 7-5, 6-0 on Saturday.
The No. 6 seed from Metz fired 12 aces, winning 81 per cent of his first service points to advance in just under one hour of play. Humbert could claim his second Futures title of the season following his triumph in Bellevue, Switzerland, two weeks ago.
The 19-year-old will take on Strong Kirchhimer. The 22-year-old US-American qualifier, who is currently ranked on a career high World No. 787, eased past French qualifier Florian Lakat 6-3, 6-1. Kirchheimer broke serve four times to secure victory in one hour and six minutes.
Humbert and Kirchheimer will meet for the first time.
Later in the day, Florian Lakat and Ronnie Schneider from the United States beat the all-US-American combination of JC Aragone and Deiton Baughman 2-6, 7-6, 10-7 to clinch the doubles crown. The final lasted one hour and 15 minutes.
“It’s not often that we get to play in front of so many fans at these types of tournaments,” Schneider thanked the spectators afterwards. “You guys have been amazing all week, especially in the past few days. Your encouragement is very appreciated by the players.”
The Gatineau Futures presented by the Turpin Group, National Bank Financial, is the first in a series of three tournaments that will be played in Quebec during the months of February and March. The event will be followed by the Sherbrooke Futures and the Drummondville National Bank Challenger.
