The Frenchman Ugo Humbert achieved an authentic feat by beating the world No.2, the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, in the round of 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
In the quarter-finals, Humbert (18th) will face the Australian Jordan Thompson (28th), who fell earlier in the day against another Frenchman, Adrian Mannarino. The Paris tournament definitely did not work for the young Spaniard: he has never made it past the quarter-finals in four appearances. During one set, the first, completed in 26 minutes flat, Humbert proved irresistible, to the point of leaving Alcaraz with only one game.
But even when pushed, “Carlitos” held on, to the point of rebalancing the debates before equalizing at one set all. The level rose a notch on both sides of the net in the third set, where both players multiplied spectacular shots and went blow for blow.
Cazaux also eliminated
Ultimately it was the lower ranked of the two who had the last word, in an electric atmosphere, after a little over two hours of match. Messin will return on Friday for a potential qualification in the last four.
Of the five French people – record equal – competing in the round of 16 at Bercy, only one can still hope to join Humbert in the next round: Arthur Rinderknech, facing world No.9 Grigor Dimitrov at the end of the evening. A few minutes after Humbert's victory, Montpellier Arthur Cazaux actually lost against Holger Rune.
