Bublik meets Humbert in Dubai title clash
Alexander Bublik and Ugo Humbert will meet in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships final after an eventful semifinal round Friday.
No 7 seed Bublik was ahead 6-7 (4), 7-6 (5), 6-5 when No. 2 seed Andrey Rublev of Russia was defaulted for unsportsmanlike conduct after making comments to a line judge.
Bublik, of Kazakhstan, finished the two-hour, 31-minute match with 21 aces and saved 11 of 14 break points. He posted 42 winners and 13 unforced errors, compared to 36 and 11 for Rublev.
"I highly doubt Andrey said something crazy. He's not this kind of guy. But I guess that's the rules. That's what they did, they just follow the procedure," Bublik told reporters.
No 5 Humbert took down topseeded Daniil Medvedev of Russia 7-5, 6-3 in under two hours. The Frenchman saved all but one of the eight break points he faced and finished with a 30-21 advantage in winners.
French qualifier Corentin Moutet proved tough to beat in tiebreakers, emerging with a 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3) victory over top-seeded Nicolas Jarry of Chile in the quarterfinals at Santiago, Chile.
Moutet won the first five points of the first-set tiebreaker before sealing it on his third set point. Jarry won the first point of the second-set tiebreaker, but Moutet took the next six and wrapped up the victory on the third match point.
Moutet’s semifinal opponent will be another Chilean, fourthseeded Alejandro Tabilo, who beat Italy’s Luciano Darderi 6-0, 7-5.
The other semifinal will feature second-seeded Sebastian Baez of Argentina and Spain’s Pedro Martinez.
Baez downed eighth-seeded Jaume Munar of Spain 6-4, 6-4, and Martinez eliminated thirdseeded Arthur Fils of France 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2.