Ugo Humbert in the final of the Paris Masters 1000, for a shock against world number 3 Alexander Zverev

TENNIS – A new French king in Paris? Already the winner of world number 2 Carlos Alcaraz, French tennis player Ugo Humbert took on the Russian Karen Khachanov this Saturday, November 2 in the semi-final of the Master 1000 in Paris, the most prestigious tournament category after the four Grand Slams.

First pushed against the 21st player in the world, the 26-year-old left-hander did not tremble when reaching his very first final of the Rolex Paris Masters, thus joining the very closed circle of French players having reached a final of this type of tournament. In this unbreathable mano a mano from start to finish, the Frenchman finally won 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 6-3.

It is therefore a duel at the top which awaits Ugo Humbert against the German Alexander Zverev, current third player in the world. And the perfect opportunity to be the last French athlete to win the trophy at Bercy, before the tournament moves to Nanterre. A major challenge since it is a revengeful Zverev who will face Humbert in the final at Bercy, four years after his previous final lost in 2020.

« Proud of me »

In this sensational match, everything finally came down to the seventh game of the last set. When the Frenchman managed to take the Russian's serve to lead 4-3, service to follow. Moments earlier, Khachanov had called in a trainer to massage his right thigh. After this interruption, he showed himself to be significantly less mobile in the last two games, won without difficulty by Ugo Humbert.

However, the Frenchman came a long way, after catching up two breaks behind and pushing Khachanov to the tie-break in the first set. Before falling back into his mistakes, thus offering the set to his opponent. With fewer unforced errors in the following round, the French number 1 was able to overcome his doubts and his opponent in this very close match. Like the two set points saved by Khachanov before the third set.

“I said to myself ‘you’re going to have to fight until the end’ and that’s what I did so I’m proud of myself”welcomed the darling of the Parisian public, used to speaking out loud to each other on the court to move forward.

Before him, Guy Forget, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Cédric Pioline, Sébastien Grosjean, Richard Gasquet, Gaël Monfils and Gilles Simon had reached a Masters 1000 final. But only the first four on this list have already won one or more titles.

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