Sunday saw the ATP Challenger Tour victories of two French lefties. Corentin Moutet won the Szczecin Challenger to win his second Challenger title of the year, while Ugo Humbert defeated former US Open Champion Dominic Thiem on home soil in Rennes to win his seventh Challenger title (Lyon).
France has now tied Argentina for the most Challenger Tour victories (17), with players from that nation. In order to win the Open Blot Rennes, Humbert successfully resisted all 21 break points that he encountered this past week. In the title final, the 24-year-old defeated Thiem with ease, winning 6-3, 6-0.
The left-handed Frenchman reached a career-high No. 25 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings after winning his last nine finals across all divisions, including the ATP 500 tournament in Halle in 2021 (vs. Rublev). Humbert made his first final appearance this week and his first Challenger final appearance since October 2019 since winning the championship in Halle (Brest).
Humbert, who has three Tour levels, started this season by defeating Daniil Medvedev, who was ranked No. 2 in the world at the time, in the ATP Cup. He advanced to the semi-finals of three Challenger tournaments in a row this summer: Pozoblanco, Segovia, and Vancouver. Humbert moves up to No. 110 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings thanks to his victory this week on home turf.