“Make lightning speak, Ugo!” “, apostrophized a spectator from Bercy Friday 1is November, Ugo Humbert had barely entered the Central Court of the Palais Omnisports. The last Frenchman competing in the final Parisian edition of the tournament – the Masters 1000 will move in 2025 to the Paris La Défense Arena in Nanterre (Hauts-de-Seine) – did not need to be asked. Since he entered the fray, the determination has been read in his eyes and heard in his groans: Messin is as if inhabited.
Last victim of the left-hander? Jordan Thompson (28)e world), released in the quarter-finals (6-2, 7-6). An express first set (29 minutes), two breaks, three times as many winning shots: faced with such insolent ease, the 30-year-old Australian cast helpless glances towards his clan while applauding his tormentor of the day.
Under the eyes of Robert Pirès, the 1.88m left-hander still needed to strengthen his game in the second set, concluded in the tie-break. After two match points redacted at 5-4 and a break conceded in the process, Humbert “transcended himself to achieve victory”. Like this exceptional defense in the deciding game where he returned two smashes to make the minibreak, then fired a passing shot and earned himself two new match points, his eyes bulging.
“I am ready for anything, I play with my heart”
“As soon as I’m on the court, I’m ready for anything, I play with my heart, the solutions come to me. I’m never very worried, I play by listening to myself, with a great feeling. I’m not surprised to see myself at this level but I’m glad it’s happening now,” savors the protégé of Jérémy Chardy (ex-25e world).
Since the start of Bercy, the Humbert chrysalis has been moulting. Him, the ” kind “as he conceded this week (implying “a little too much”), is determined to break this smooth image that sticks to his racket. Tuesday, after his victory against the American Marcos Giron, the French number 1 did not hide from journalists that he had little taste of having been relegated to a short annex unworthy of his status.
On the pitch, the 26-year-old no longer hesitates to take the opponent by the throat, regardless of their caliber. Thursday, in the round of 16, Humbert lectured (6-1, 3-6, 7-5) to world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz, four-time Grand Slam winner. Unleashing winning shot after winning shot, passing lines and surgical strikes, Humbert extinguished the Spaniard’s tennis panache, usually so lethal, to offer himself “the most beautiful victory of [sa] career “.
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