Daniil Medvedev claimed the 10th ATP Tour title of his career with a 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 win over Pierre-Hugues Herbert at the Open 13 Provence in Marseille.
Medvedev will move up to number two in the world in Monday's latest ranking, making him the first player outside of the big four of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray to occupy one of the top two positions since Leyton Hewitt in 2005.
The Russian celebrated this achievement with a dogged display to down Herbert in two hours and 11 minutes, saving four of the five break points he faced.
A finalist at the Australian Open, Medvedev is now 14-2 in 2021, with the Open 13 title his sixth on indoor hard courts.
Herbert's strategy of frequently visiting the net was initially picked apart by Medvedev, who only needed one set point in the opener as he threaded a backhand winner expertly down the line.
But the Frenchman applied the pressure in set two, passing up three break points early on before impressing from the baseline to reel off five straight points and claim the breaker from 2-4 behind.
The decider was a tense affair but Herbert's errors at the net came back to undermine his efforts decisively when he served to stay in the match at 5-4.
The 29-year-old has now lost all four of his ATP Finals, while Medvedev again proved himself to be a high-quality operator on such occasions.