The French No. 1 against one of the best players in the world: before the tournament moves to La Défense Arena next year, Bercy could hardly dream of a better poster.
Author of a magnificent week, during which he notably eliminated Carlos Alcaraz, quadruple Grand Slam winner, Ugo Humbert is playing his very first Masters 1000 final this Sunday. The best result of his career.
Chardy: “Now we need the trophy”
“For us, this final is a great reward. Now we need the trophy. Ugo wants to give everything,” warns his trainer, Jérémy Chardy.
The Lorraine will not have an easy time facing Alexander Zverev. The German, who remains on two convincing successes against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune, plays very solid tennis in Bercy. A tournament of which he had already reached the final in 2020, beaten at the time by the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
Future number two at the ATP on Monday, the Tokyo Olympic champion already has six Masters 1000 titles, including the last in Rome last May, and two end-of-year Masters, an event for which he is guaranteed to be seeded this year.
Zverev more experienced
With this track record and his experience of major events, the finalist of the last edition of Roland-Garros is the favorite against Humbert, a novice at this level of the competition.
The 26-year-old left-hander can however boast of having lost only one of his first seven finals on the ATP circuit, last month in Tokyo against his compatriot Arthur Fils (5-7, 7-6, 6-3 ).
The latter is so far the only one to have worried “Sascha” this week, pushing the German to the third set during a breathtaking round of 16 (6-4, 3-6, 6-3).
A precedent between the two men at Bercy
Another encouraging point: Ugo Humbert has already beaten Alexander Zverev, on the German pitch in Halle three years ago, in search of his first ATP 500 title at the time.
Above all, the two men have already faced each other at Bercy, and no later than last year. It was also a second round, and the player “playing outside” had won again, in the tie-break of the third set (6-4, 6-7, 7-6) and after almost 3h30 of a big fight.
« Last year the match against Zverev was completely crazy. There was a great level of play, an incredible scenario. It gave me confidence,” rewinds Humbert, who used this setback to immediately win the Moselle Open, at home in Metz.
“There were regrets but this match did him a lot of good, giving him a lot of confidence. It showed him that he could put up big fights against those kinds of players. Sunday, it will be revenge,” explains his trainer Jérémy Chardy.
The good versus the bad
The 26-year-old left-hander will be able to count on the support of the 15,000 or so spectators at Bercy, who pushed him to transcend himself on Saturday to overthrow Karen Khachanov (6-7, 6-4, 6-3).
Introverted, shy and even “a little too nice” according to his own words, Humbert raised his voice this week, not hesitating to appeal to the public to put pressure on his opponents. An attitude that an exhausted Khachanov did not appreciate, to the point of reprimanding the Frenchman during their handshake at the net.
“He likes playing in France, in the Davis Cup, with the atmosphere. It's a treat for him. It helps him to surpass himself,” judges Chardy for his part.
A new standoff awaits his protégé against another hitter on the circuit, free of his legal troubles, with a very reliable commitment and undoubtedly more solid from the baseline than the Russian.
“It’s up to him to take his destiny into his own hands”
“A final, you have to go all out. He needs to focus on his intentions. Doing what he's been doing since the start of the tournament. He will tackle it to win. He's in the right frame of mind. He likes to play finals. He likes these moments. He has the game to get them. It’s up to him to take his destiny into his own hands,” insists Chardy.
The clash promises sparks, Humbert having proven this week his ability to compete in power and precision with the very best. If he were to win this Sunday, he would become the fourth and last Frenchman to triumph at Bercy, after Guy Forget (1991), Sébastien Grosjean (2001) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2008). He would reach eleventh place in the world, his very best ranking. And his 2024 season is not quite over yet…
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