Australian No.1 Alex De Minaur missed out on the chance of landing his first title of the season when he was defeated by Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-1 7-6 (7-4) in the European Open final in Antwerp.

In the first meeting between the young pair, De Minaur made a slow start, losing his serve straight away as world no.38 Humbert, ranked nine places lower than De Minaur, raced into a 3-0 lead in the opening set.

The 21-year-old from Sydney, who had been seeking to add to the three titles he won last year, was broken again to surrender the set in 38 minutes before he really began to put up a fight in the second, which went with serve to set up a tiebreak.

In the breaker which featured eight mini-breaks, the 22-year-old Frenchman eventually emerged with the victory after one hour 38 minutes.