There is little to separate Tomas Machac and Ugo Humbert when they face off for Adelaide International 2026 glory on Saturday.
Ranked just one place apart, at world No.35 and No.36 respectively, Machac and Humbert each battled through three-set semifinals to take their place in the final of the ATP 250 tournament.
For Machac, a 2-6 6-3 6-3 upset of Tommy Paul was secured after close to two hours of athletic intensity and power hitting, the Czech firing eight aces among 32 winners as he ousted the No.2 seed.
Frenchman Humbert downed top seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3 5-7 7-6(4) in the second men’s semifinal to earn the opportunity to lift an eighth trophy on tour.
“It was a great match,” said the 27-year-old Humbert, who recorded 37 winners compared to 26 from the Spaniard. in their two-and-a-half hour battle. “Foki (Fokina) played an amazing event. We played a fantastic match … I’m super happy that I’m in a final here.”
The flashy lefthander loves to compete on a hard court, with all but one of Humbert’s seven title runs so far achieved on that surface.
The 25-year-old Machac, chasing a second career title, also favours hard court, as evidenced by his ATP title breakthrough in Acapulco last year.
Humbert and Machac have faced off once on tour, with the Frenchman emerging a three-set winner in their Tokyo 2024 semifinal.
Next-gen stars Andreeva and Mboko look to take the next step
Tennis' new wave will take the main stage on Saturday when 18-year-old Mirra Andreeva faces 19-year-old Victoria Mboko in a next-generation final of the Adelaide International at The Drive.
The two best teenage players in world tennis both progressed to the decider with ultra-impressive semifinal performances.
No.8 seed Mboko took less than an hour to dismantle hometown favourite Kim Birrell 6-2 6-1, before third seed Andreeva warded off some early nerves to oust Diana Shnaider, her close friend and doubles partner, 6-3 6-2.
Mboko and Andreeva have never faced each other in WTA matchplay, but they certainly aren't unfamiliar with seeing each other on opposing sides of the net.
"I've known Vicky since I was 12," Andreeva said, "so it's also more or less the same situation like today. "She's been playing great tennis, last season especially."
The pair played each other twice as kids, both times in ITF J1 action in Washington in the lead-up to the US Open juniors. I remember she always had like a huge team of Tennis Canada Federation and I was like small, just me and my mum," Andreeva recalled.
"So, yeah, I remember playing against her. I think we only played twice in juniors, like following (successive) years at the same tournament. It was like in 2022. So, you know, I don't think we can really take anything from those matches."
So, does that mean Andreeva won both times? "Yes," she reluctantly replied with a laugh.
Mboko's meteoric rise from obscurity to stardom in 2025 captured the imagination of the tennis world, not dissimilar to Andreeva's explosion at an even younger age, two years earlier.
"Mirra doing it is, it's really motivating," Mboko said. "I mean, I remember seeing her in a lot of junior tournaments, and I've known her for such a long time and seen her progress.
"She's also grown so much in the past couple of years. "So seeing her uprise, I think it's motivating for me and I think a lot of young girls out there who want to play at this level of tennis."
Andreeva feels she is ready to absorb the best punches that the powerful Mboko will certainly send her way.
"I know that she likes to take the ball early," Andreeva said. "She likes to be aggressive on the court. She likes to dictate the point as well. She has a great serve.
"I'm sure she's going to hit a lot of winners. She's going to hit a few aces here and there.
"So (for) me, I will just have to stick to the plan, do what I always do, play my game, and be focused from the beginning to the end, then we'll see how it's going to go."
There are six teenagers ranked in the top 100, with Andreeva and Mboko the clear frontrunners.
Andreeva will be chasing her fourth WTA crown, Mboko her third.
One gets the impression both those figures will climb exponentially over the next decade-plus.
"I don't remember when this happened last time, when two teenagers shared a final together," Andreeva said. "I think that's great because if, for example, I don't know, a legend from WTA leaves, we all know that we are here. "So it's not going to be boring. We're going to keep everyone entertained