The last chapter of Bercy closes in the language of Goethe, symbolically coming full circle. The first edition in 1986 crowned Boris Becker, and it was another German, Alexander Zverev, who padlocked the door to the tournament – too cramped, he is preparing to join Nanterre and Paris La Défense Arena in 2025. Nearly four decades in an often overheated room which was the heyday of French tennis.
Ugo Humbert hoped to succeed Guy Forget (1991), Sébastien Grosjean (2001) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2008), by in turn lifting the Fanti tree, the bronze trophy of the Parisian Masters 1000. But on Sunday November 3, the left-hander came across Alexander Zverev at the top of his game. For 1 hour 15 minutes, the world No. 3 showed off his dazzling two-handed backhands, his serves that make lightning fall from a very high height (1.98 m), his ability to bring the ball back with a simple slap and this feline movement with the arm span of a golden eagle. Unplayable, the 27-year-old German outclassed his younger brother (6-2, 6-2) in all areas.
After a week where he “given everything” on the court, the Lorraine no longer had the fuel to ignite the public, front and center including Antoine Dupont and Florent Manaudou. “I would have liked to put my name on the trophy, my head wanted it but my body didn’t react. Physically, I had difficulty recovering from yesterday [demi-finale face à Karen Khachanov]. He was monstrous in the first balls, he gave me nothing in the seconds. On the forehand side, where I thought I could get it, it didn't give me anything either…”
“In tennis, if we don’t evolve, we go backwards”
Impressive since the start of the week, Alexander Zverev was only knocked out by Arthur Fils in the round of 16 (6-4, 3-6, 7-6). In the semi-final, he extinguished the enthusiasm of the Dane Holger Rune, after having consumed the tennis panache of the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous round. “I was solid from start to finish. I am delighted to lift the Masters 1000 trophy, but there are still areas of the game that I need to improve,” tempered the future runner-up to Jannik Sinner in the ATP rankings.
Zverev sees his excess of zeal rewarded. Not content with being the player who played the most matches this year (86), the German worked overtime throughout the tournament. As soon as the match ball was sent – including after the final – he was back in training. A routine dictated by a questioning: if he wants to tickle Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz at the top of world tennis, he can no longer afford to have the slightest deficiency in his game.
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