Paris – Alexander Zverev was imperial in beating Frenchman Ugo Humbert in two sets of 6-2, 6-2 to win the Paris Masters on Sunday.
Zverev, third seed in the tournament, completely dominated the final to sign his seventh career Masters 1000 title and his first in the French capital.
The victory also allowed him to overtake Italian Jannik Sinner, the world number one, for the most victories on the ATP Tour this year, with 66.
Zverev’s fast serve, his excellent returns and his superb offensive shots didn’t take long before extinguishing the hopes of the Parisian public, while Humbert never found his rhythm during the match.
Humbert will not have good memories of his first Masters final. He tried to play aggressively from the start and take all the risks to shorten the rallies. The Frenchman, however, failed to find precision in his shots, while Zverev defended extremely well.
The German quickly resolved his rival’s serve and he had his first opportunity to break in the third game. He took it when Humbert sent a forehand into the net.
Humbert continued to make unforced errors. Trailing 3-1, he saved two break points, but lost his serve again when he missed another forehand.
Zverev only lost one point on his serve during the first set and he sealed the outcome of this set by making an ace to win his serve at zero.
Humbert, 15th seed, returned to the locker room after the first round, but this break did not change anything.
The Frenchman double-faulted on his return to the court, continued to make poor tactical decisions and was immediately broken with a forehand into the net.
Another break gave Zverev a 3-0 lead while Humbert squandered a 40-0 lead on his serve. He was then never able to get back on track.
Zverev became the second German player to win in Paris after Boris Becker. He will overtake Carlos Alcaraz to take second place in the new ATP rankings and will be one of the main contenders for the title at the ATP Finals, which will bring together the eight best players of the season in Turin, Italy, from November 10 to 17.
