Two years ago, the Japan Open finished with an all-American final between Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe. This year, a pair of Frenchmen have taken over Tokyo: 26-year-old Ugo Humbert, a native of Metz, will face 20-year-old Arthur Fils, who was born in Bondoufle, south of Paris.
The biggest difference between the two is age: Humbert is 26, Fils is 20. Otherwise, they’ve had similar 2024 seasons, and find themselves in similar positions on the ATP totem pole.
Humbert is 32-20 this year, ranked 19th, and has won two titles—both on hard courts, in Dubai and Marseille—early in the season. In Dubai in February, he beat Gael Monfils, Andy Murray, Hubert Hurkacz and Daniil Medvedev, and looked like he might be ready for a long-awaited breakout year. But that proved to be his peak; he’s made just one semifinal since.
Fils is 31-23 in 2024, ranked 24th, and has won one title, on clay, in Hamburg. In theat final, he beat defending champion Alexander Zverev 7-6 in the third. Like Humbert, Fils probably had grander hopes for his season when it began. And also like Humbert, now he has a chance to make good on those ambitions by putting another 500-level title on his résumé.
