Hurkacz battles into Basel final, to face Auger-Aliassime

The Pole gained ground on the man who holds the eighth and final place for Turin as Danish top seed Holger Rune lost to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-2.

Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz celebrates after winning his semifinal match against France’s Ugo Humbert. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Hubert Hurkacz beat Ugo Humbert in the Swiss Indoors semifinals on Saturday to inch closer to a place in the season-ending ATP Finals.

Hurkacz overcame dogged resistance to beat the Frenchman 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (7/5).

The Pole gained ground on the man who holds the eighth and final place for Turin, as Danish top seed Holger Rune lost to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 6-2.

The top eight players this year will qualify for the season-ending event in November.

Ahead of Sunday’s final, Rune leads Hurkacz by 215 points. But if the Pole wins, he will trim the gap to just 15 points ahead of the Paris Masters.

Hurkacz said he would focus on beating Augier-Aliassime.

“I try to shut down the noise and do my job, because ultimately if you can do that then you give yourself the best chance,” Hurkacz said.

Hurkacz gained the only break to win the first set. Humbert managed the lone break in the second set.

In the third, Hurkacz broke in the eighth game but Humbert hit straight back.

The Frenchman survived two match points in his next service game but Hurkacz took his first chance in the tie-break to win in two hours and 38 minutes.

Auger-Aliassime reached his first final since he won the same event last year, when he beat Rune in the final.

It was also the Canadian’s first victory over a top-10 player this season. He arrived in Basel struggling, having won just four of his past 12 matches.