Frenchman Ugo Humbert saved three match points in a dramatic second set tie-break to beat third seed Hubert Hurkacz in an engrossing three-set quarterfinal battle 3-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-4 at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships on Thursday night.
Humbert, the world number 18, set up a semifinal clash with defending champion Daniil Medvedev of Russia.
Medvedev earlier outplayed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain, winning the quarterfinal clash in straight sets 6-2 6-3.
In Friday’s first semifinal clash, last year’s finalist Andrey Rublev of Russia will take on Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
Hurkacz, the big-serving Pole, looked set for a second semifinal appearance in Dubai after he comfortably won the first set against Humbert.
But the second set turned out to be an epic battle between two strong baseline players.
In the tie-break, the left-handed Humbert showed remarkable composure to save three match points before converting his first set point to take the match into the decider.
With a sizeable number of French fans supporting him passionately on the centre court, Humbert found another gear as he broke Hurkacz, the 2021 Wimbledon semifinalist, twice to win the third set and the match.
“It was a great battle, I tried to fight for every point. In that tie-break, I saved three match points, tried to do my best and thanks to these French fans for the amazing support,” Humbert said during the post-match on-court interview.
Humbert enjoys a 2-1 head-to-head record against Medvedev, his opponent in the semifinal, even though the Russian won the last match against him last year.
“It’s going to be a great challenge against Daniil tomorrow (Friday). We had a few great fights, hopefully I will recover well to be ready for this match,” he said.