in Paris, Ugo Humbert offers himself a first semi-final in Masters 1000

A Bercy,

There’s no stopping Ugo Humbert. 24 hours after knocking out Carlos Alcaraz, the tournament favorite, Messin dominated the Australian Jordan Thompson, surprise guest of the quarter-finals. A clear and almost flawless victory 6-2, 7-6. With total confidence in its service, the 18^e Mondial lost only three small points on its commitments in a first act dispatched in minutes. The duel was balanced in the second set. The Australian, on the back foot, managed to save two match points on his serve in the tenth game, before obtaining his first break point in the next game and concluding on the next. Despite an alert on my ankle, Humbert had no doubts and picked up straight away before winning in the tie-break (7-4). Ending his quarter with a long-line backhand and a forehand into the top corner. Here he is at 26 years old in the semi-final of a Masters 1000 for the first time in his career. Confidence at its zenith. His future opponent in the last four: Karen Khachanov, 21st and winner in 2018 or Grigor Dimitrov, finalist in 2018 and 9th in the world, has been warned.

He is also the first Frenchman to reach the final four of a Masters 1000 – the most prestigious tournaments after the four Grand Slams – since Richard Gasquet in 2019 in Cincinnati. He is also the eleventh and final Frenchman to reach the final four of the Paris Masters 1000 at Bercy, before it moves to the Paris-la Défense Arena. His coach Jérémy Chardy did not hide his emotions: “It’s never easy to move on. And he was left with a defeat against Thompson. So I’m proud of him. He had a very serious match. Everything was going well until 6-6, 5-4 and two match points for him. Afterwards his opponent returned. Tennis can change in two minutes. But he had a great tie-break. He had been looking for a big result in a big tournament for a long time. The victory against Alcaraz gave him a lot of confidence. He has two matches to still dream about. He has progressed in all areas. It was the year he won the most matches (38). He knows what he has to do on the court. It ignites at the right time. He feels the moments of tension more than before. »