Ugo Humbert swiftly stopped Rinky Hijikata and secured a semifinal at the HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club
Ugo Humbert advanced to the semifinals of the ATP tournament HSBC Championships in London after defeating Rinky Hijikata 6:1, 6:2 in the grass-court quarterfinal at Queen’s Club. According to the official ATP Tour result, the match was played on Friday, June 19, 2026, on Court 1, and lasted 1 hour, 4 minutes and 47 seconds. The French tennis player thus very quickly settled a duel that, on paper, carried additional uncertainty, especially because the Australian qualifier Hijikata had eliminated the second seed Jiří Lehečka in the previous round. Instead of another drama, the spectators got one of the most straightforward quarterfinal outcomes of the day: Humbert lost only three games and reached the final stages of the tournament without major interruptions. That result was especially important because it followed his exhausting previous appearance, in which, according to the report by the organizers and the LTA, he had to save three match points against Hamad Međedović before winning in two tie-breaks.
A quick and controlled response after an exhausting previous match
Humbert’s entry into the quarterfinals was not routine, so the way he played against Hijikata gained additional weight. In its tournament overview, the LTA states that the Frenchman saved three match points against Hamad Međedović while trailing 5:4 and 0-40 in the second set, and then escaped through two tie-breaks. Such a development could have left a physical and mental mark, especially on a fast grass surface where a brief drop in concentration often changes the course of a set. Humbert, however, imposed a different rhythm against Hijikata from the opening games and did not allow the match to develop into an uncertain finish. The final 6:1, 6:2 shows how effectively he managed the score and how little room he left to an opponent who had already taken a demanding path through qualifying and the main draw to reach the quarterfinals.
According to the official ATP Tour score report, Hijikata managed to save one match point in the closing stage of the contest, but Humbert soon closed out the job and secured the final place in the semifinals of the London ATP 500 tournament. For the French player, it was a result that combined two important messages: the ability to survive in a difficult match and the ability to return, in the very next appearance, to a clean, disciplined performance. In the context of the grass season, such an adjustment has special value because points are often decided in short exchanges, and control of the first shot after serve and return can quickly separate the favorite from a player seeking an upset. Humbert did not need to produce a spectacular comeback; it was enough for him to steadily maintain pressure and keep the score on the side of the player who first takes the initiative. That is precisely why the match against Hijikata looked like a sudden change of tone after the drama of the previous round.
Hijikata stopped after a qualifier’s surge
Rinky Hijikata had a tournament in London that already bore the mark of success before the quarterfinals. According to results published by the ATP and ESPN, the Australian tennis player came through qualifying, then defeated Alejandro Tabilo in the first round of the main tournament, and then surprised the second seed Jiří Lehečka in the second round. After that victory, the LTA emphasized that Hijikata felt comfortable on the grass at Queen’s Club and that he spoke about the special pleasure of playing in London, which further highlighted his connection with the surface and the conditions. But against Humbert he was unable to continue the same momentum. The score of 1:6, 2:6 shows that he did not find a way to extend the sets and force the Frenchman into a longer period of pressure.
Hijikata’s defeat does not erase the fact that the tournament had sporting value for him, especially considering that he entered the main draw as a qualifier. ATP ranking data before the tournament placed him around 104th position, and the victory over the highly seeded Lehečka represented an important result in a week that comes immediately before the final preparations for Wimbledon. Still, the quarterfinal showed the limit to which his London run could go at this moment. Humbert did not give him enough time to build a pattern of points, and without an equal start in the opening games of the sets, the qualifier very quickly had to play against the score. On grass, such a scenario is particularly difficult because a player chasing a deficit often has to take greater risks, and against a stable opponent that can accelerate the end instead of opening a comeback.
Queen’s Club as an important stop in the grass season
The HSBC Championships at Queen’s Club are part of the ATP 500 category and, according to the official ATP Tour calendar for 2026, the men’s tournament is held from June 15 to 21. The tournament in west London has had an important place in the grass-court part of the season for decades because it is played in the period immediately before Wimbledon and gathers players who, in a short span, must adjust their movement, service patterns and return to a low ball. The LTA states that the 2026 edition of the HSBC Championships is organized within a broader set of events that includes both WTA and ATP competition, with the men’s draw culminating in the final on June 21. In such a schedule, every passage to the final stages carries more than points alone: it gives players competitive rhythm on a surface on which the season very quickly turns toward the most prestigious grass-court tournament.
For Humbert, the semifinal in London is significant also because of his broader profile on grass. According to his ATP profile, the Frenchman has won seven ATP titles in his career, and among his most notable results on grass is the title in Halle in 2021. Although the 2021 result itself does not guarantee current form, it shows that Humbert has a proven repertoire for fast conditions: a left-handed serve, flat shots and the ability to shorten the point before the opponent establishes a defensive rhythm. In the match against Hijikata, precisely that combination came to the fore through the score, although the official score report does not require additional explanations for the dominance expressed in only three games lost. In a week in which many players are still adjusting to the transition from clay to grass, such a victory also has practical value because it saves energy before the final matches.
The path to the semifinal and the duel with Tommy Paul
In London, Humbert reached the semifinal through a run that included several different kinds of challenges. According to ESPN and ATP Tour results, in the first round he defeated Marin Čilić 7:5, 6:3, thereby eliminating a player with rich experience on grass and two previous titles at Queen’s Club. Then, against Hamad Međedović, he had to turn around a match that, according to the LTA, almost went to the Serbian tennis player’s side after three consecutive match points in the second set. Only after that came the quarterfinal meeting with Hijikata, which brought a completely different scenario and significantly less time spent on court. Such a sequence speaks of a tournament week in which Humbert had to show both resilience and efficiency.
In the semifinal, according to the LTA tournament overview and ESPN schedule, he awaits Tommy Paul, the eighth seed and the Queen’s Club champion from 2024. Paul earned his place among the final four by defeating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and the LTA described that result as a continuation of his successful run in London. For Humbert, that will be a qualitatively different test from the quarterfinal against Hijikata because Paul can combine a solid baseline game on grass, good movement toward the net and the experience of winning the same tournament. The Frenchman enters the semifinal with a convincing victory behind him, but also with the awareness that in the closing stages of an ATP 500 tournament the rhythm can change within just a few games. The match with Paul therefore carries both sporting and tactical weight: the winner will get the chance to play for one of the more important titles ahead of Wimbledon.
What the result says about Humbert’s form
A 6:1, 6:2 victory in the quarterfinal of an ATP 500 tournament is rarely reduced only to a poor day by the defeated player. In this case, it shows that Humbert managed to turn the previous tension into a controlled performance, without unnecessarily extending the match and without scoreline fluctuations that would have allowed Hijikata a comeback. Considering that the Australian’s path to the quarterfinal included a victory over the second seed, the Frenchman’s convincing performance cannot be viewed as progress against a player without form. On the contrary, Humbert stopped an opponent who had already proved that he could cope with higher-ranked rivals and who had gained competitive rhythm on the same courts through qualifying. Precisely because of that, the difference in the score carries additional weight.
For the further course of the tournament, the most important thing is that Humbert shortened the time spent in the quarterfinal and thus at least partially softened the consequences of the demanding match with Međedović. The official ATP score report gives a duration of just over 64 minutes, which is significant in the context of a compressed schedule. Grass rewards freshness, the precision of the first step and a clear decision on the first or second shot of the point, so a shorter duel before the semifinal can have real competitive value. Still, the final stages of Queen’s Club leave little room for conclusions in advance. Paul has already proved in London that he knows how to win this tournament, while Humbert comes into the semifinal after a week in which he showed two extremes of tournament tennis: saving match points in an almost lost contest and then a routine victory in a match he controlled from beginning to end.
London got a clearer picture of the final stages
Quarterfinal day at Queen’s Club further shaped the closing stages of the men’s draw. According to ESPN’s results display, Brandon Nakashima eliminated the first seed Alex de Minaur, Francisco Cerúndolo stopped Arthur Fery, Tommy Paul defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Humbert was the last to complete the semifinal schedule with a victory over Hijikata. Such a development left the tournament without the first and second seeds, because Lehečka had earlier been eliminated precisely by Hijikata, but also with four players who reached the final stages by different paths. Humbert’s path stands out in particular for the contrast between saved match points and an express quarterfinal. In sporting terms, that makes him one of the most interesting remaining participants of the London week.
For Hijikata, the London week ends with a defeat that is heavy in terms of the score, but does not nullify his role in the tournament. A qualifier who reaches the quarterfinal of an ATP 500 competition and in the process eliminates the second seed leaves a clear competitive message, even when he is stopped in the closing stages by an opponent in better form. For Humbert, meanwhile, the victory means continuing the fight for the title and confirming that after the drama he managed to find a simpler path through the next match. According to the official tournament schedule, the next step is the semifinal against Tommy Paul on June 20, 2026, and the outcome of that duel will determine whether the French tennis player will fight for the trophy at one of the best-known grass-court tournaments in men’s tennis.
Sources:
- ATP Tour – official match results for Ugo Humbert – Rinky Hijikata and schedule of the HSBC Championships 2026. (link)
- LTA / HSBC Championships – tournament results overview, context of Humbert’s progress and preview of the semifinal against Tommy Paul (link)
- ESPN – results and schedule of the men’s singles tournament HSBC Championships 2026 in London (link)
- ATP Tour – official profile of Ugo Humbert with career, titles and rankings data (link)
- ATP Tour – official profile and ranking of Rinky Hijikata (link)
- LTA / HSBC Championships – report on Rinky Hijikata’s victory over Jiří Lehečka and his progress to the quarterfinals (link)