MARSEILLE/WASHINGTON, February 9, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)
Ugo Humbert love to play indoor tennis — especially in his native France.
The fourth-seeded Humbert reached his third Open 13 Provence semifinal in three appearances in Marseille on Friday afternoon with a 69-minute 6-1, 6-4 victory over No. 5 seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain.
Humbert struck seven aces, won 92 percent of his first-serve points – dropping just two points – and faced no break points from the 24th-ranked Davidovich Fokina, who was seeking his sixth career tour-level semifinal. The last Spaniard to reach the Marseille semifinals was Roberto Bautista Agut in 2015.
In a hurry! 💨
Clinical Ugo Humbert defeats Fokina 6-1 6-4 to secure a place in the #open13provence semi-finals! pic.twitter.com/Vdc4nCQjhN
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 9, 2024
“I played a pretty good match,” Humbert said in his on-court interview. “It’s never easy to play against him. I’ve known him a long time. The last time we played was not filled with good memories since I had to retire in Montpellier (in 2023).”
Now, the World No. 21 Humbert has now won six straight indoor matches dating back to his title last year in his hometown Metz. He showed fantastic form in losing just five games to Davidovich Fokina while beating him for the first time in three career meetings.
Ça déroule pour Ugo Humbert 💥 Il passe en demie après une victoire 6-1 6-4 face à Fokina 👍#open13provence #atptour pic.twitter.com/RiLInwefgO
— Open 13 Provence (@Open13) February 9, 2024
Next, Humbert (5-1 this season) will face World No. 8 and top seed Hubert Hurkacz, who is the defending Marseille champion. Humbert is 0-3 lifetime against the Polish No. 1, including a four-set loss at last month’s Australian Open.
On Friday afternoon, Hurkacz became the first player to post 10 tour-level wins this year after he defeated No. 66 Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-4, in just 62 minutes. Hurkacz dropped only three points on his first serve and fired 11 aces. He played a strong, attacking game from the baseline and outpointed Machac 56-43.
The up-and-coming Machac was aiming to make his first tour-level semifinal and the loss to Hurkacz was his sixth defeat against a Top-10 opponent.
Hurkacz improved to 11-1 when he’s top-seeded at an ATP Tour event.
Stacking Up Wins like… 🧱 @HubertHurkacz defeats Machac 6-3 6-4 and becomes the first player to post 10 tour-level wins this year!
Will face Humbert in the #open13provence Semi-Finals tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/kHvdR6jto3
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 9, 2024
Khachanov reaches 20th career ATP Tour semifinal
No. 3 seed Karen Khachanov of Russia reached his 20th career ATP Tour singles semifinal with his 6-4, 6-1 win over No. 50 Zhang Zhizhen of China Friday evening. Khachanov dominated the 61-minute quarterfinal by winning 84 percent of his service points while outpointing Zhang 54-34. He did not face any break points on his serve.
Semi-final spot secured 🔐@karenkhachanov defeats Zhang 6-4 6-1 to reach his 20th Tour-Level SF!#open13provence pic.twitter.com/YJN56zz0lG
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 9, 2024
One of two former Marseille champions along with Hurkacz, Khachanov will face No. 2 seed Grigor Dimitrov in Saturday’s semifinal round. The World No. 13 from Bulgaria defeated 94th-ranked French alternate Arthur Rinderknech, 6-3, 7-6 (3), Friday evening in one hour and 26 minutes to improve to 29-3 against players ranked outside the Top 50 since the beginning of the 2023 season (including ATP qualifying).
Dimitrov, who has not dropped a set this week, hit 10 aces and won 35 of 37 (95 percent) points on his first serve. He backed it with a 70 percent success rate on his second serve. Dimitrov did not face any break points on his serve and he outpointed Rinderknech 65-50 to advance to his first Marseille semifinal.
Into the final 4! 🙌@GrigorDimitrov defeats home hero Rinderknech 6-3 7-6 to move into his first Marseille semi-final!#open13provence pic.twitter.com/5hvhUvu2u8
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) February 9, 2024
Around the Palais de Sports
Unseeded Patrik Niklas-Salminen and Emil Ruusuvuori of Finland advanced to the doubles final by retirement over No. 3 seeds Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler of Austria. The Finns were ahead 4-2 after 18 minutes when the match was stopped. In Sunday’s title match, Niklas-Salminen and Ruusuvuori will face either Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic and Zhang Zhizhen of China or Sebastian Korda and Vasil Kirkov of the United States, who play Saturday.
Friday’s Open 13 Provence results
Saturday’s Open 13 Provence order of play
By the numbers
Karen Khachanov is through to his 20th tour-level semifinal (7-12) and fifth indoors (which includes titles at Marseille, Moscow, and the Paris Masters in 2018). He is one of two former champions remaining in the Marseille draw, alongside Hubert Hurkacz.
“Quotable …”
“I was definitely serving well today and that helped me out. I had a couple good return games, but apart from that, I didn’t have many chances. … I feel my game has been strong and I’ve constantly been trying to improve things, so I feel confident on the court.”
— Top seed Hubert Hurkacz during his on-court interview today following his straight-set quarterfinal victory over Tomas Machac.
Top seed and defending champion @HubertHurkacz reaches semifinals after defeating Tomas Machac 6-3 6-4 👏🏼#Open13Provence #atptour pic.twitter.com/slqhuXqAEc
— Open 13 Provence (@Open13) February 9, 2024
