Outsider Ugo Humbert won the grass tennis tournament in Halle, Westphalia, succeeding record winner Roger Federer.
The unseeded 22-year-old from Metz defeated the favorite world number seven Andrei Rublev (Russia) 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 4) in the final of the event, which is endowed with 1.455 million euros, and thus celebrated the greatest success of his career.
The left-hander won his first two tournament wins in the hall in 2020.
Humbert is also the first French title holder since Henri Leconte in 1993.
Federer, the last winner before the 2020 cancellation due to the corona pandemic, had already failed in the round of 16 at one of the dress rehearsals for the All England Championships at Wimbledon, which will start in a week. Humbert, who received a bonus of 133,785 euros, had eliminated Germany's No. 1 Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, Rublev in the quarterfinals Philipp Kohlschreiber. The keys to victory for Humbert were, among other things, the precise serves and the lengths in the basic strokes.
A German victory was celebrated before the individual finals. The two-time French Open winner Kevin Krawietz (Coburg) prevailed in the final of the doubles competition with his partner Horia Tecau (Romania) with a 7: 6 (7: 4), 6: 4 against Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada) and Hubert Hurkacz (Poland). The duo seeded three in Halle could look forward to a prize of 40,200 euros. With his regular partner Andreas Mies (Cologne), Krawietz won the French Open in 2019 and 2020. This year, however, was already in the quarter-finals of Roland Garros.