Ugo Humbert finished his 2023 season on the highest of notes capturing his fourth career title winning in Metz over Russia’s Alexander Shevchenko 6-3, 6-3.

The lefty Humbert has been a force on tour the last few months posting wins over Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev and this week in France he put it all together for his first title since 2021 in Halle.

“It was my dream when I was young to win this tournament,” Humbert told the ATP. “It’s just amazing. I have a lot of feelings now, I can’t describe it. It’s so incredible to win here in my hometown in front of my family. To finish strong like this, it’s just an amazing feeling.”

The 25-year-old Humbert lost just one set — a first round 3-set win over Dominic Thiem — and the win puts him into the Top 20 for a first time (will rank No. 20). The lefty was outside the Top 100 in January.

Humbert finished dropping just eight total points on serve and broke the 22-year-old Shevchenko three times.

“I tried to play my game. I tried to put the pressure on every point,” the Frenchman said of his front-foot approach in his first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Shevchenko. “It was not easy. I knew that the key was to stay really present and I did it. When I had the opportunities, I tried to go for it and I did it. I’m super proud.”

Humbert improves to 4-0 in finals. Shevchenko was appearing in his first final.