Paris Masters: Zverev Crowned Champion In Bercy

Alexander Zverev
Alexander Zverev (photo: ATP Tour video)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, November 3, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

Alexander Zverev gave a remarkable performance to match the occasion.

As the 39th edition of the Rolex Paris Masters bade au revoir to Bercy, the 27-year-old German won his seventh career ATP Masters 1000 title — his first one at Paris — and earned his tour-leading 66th victory of the season.

The World No. 3 Zverev dominated 18th-ranked Frenchman Ugo Humbert from first ball to last ball and won 6-2, 6-2, in a tidy 75 minutes. It was the final tournament match played on Court Central inside Accor Arena. Next year, the event moves to La Défense Arena in Nanterre, a Paris suburb northwest of Bercy.

Zverev, who was playing in his second Paris Masters final after losing to Daniil Medvedev in 2020, won his 23rd career tour-level title — he’s 23-13 in finals — and joined three-time Paris titlist Boris Becker (1986, 1989, 1992) as the only German champions in tournament history.

Humbert, 26, who aimed to become the first Frenchman since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008 to win the Paris title, gave the Bercy fans plenty to cheer about all week long. However, as disappointed as he was in the final outcome — which ended his 13-match indoor winning streak — he simply met his match in Zverev.

Zverev succeeded with incredible attacking indoor tennis. He won 86 percent (32 of 37) of his service points, including 21 of 23 on his first serve; hit 16 winners, made just six unforced errors and converted four of six break-point opportunities. He outpointed Humbert 58-31. The Frenchman struggled offensively and managed just 10 winners while hitting 14 unforced errors and serving up four double faults.

“I knew I had to play like this to win today,” Zverev said, after winning his second title of the season and improving his win-loss record to a tour-leading 66-20, during an-court interview with ATP Media. He will move up to World No. 2 on Monday.

“Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does and I knew that. Once the crowd gets involved, it’s going to be very, very difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I’m happy about that.”

Relentlessly, Zverev took care of business on both sides of the net in opening up a double-break 4-1 lead in the first set, en route to winning it 6-2 in 36 minutes. He overwhelmed Humbert with both his powerful service games — losing only one point on his serve — and with his effective heavy-hitting returns, too. It really took the air out of Accor Arena, which filled to capacity all week in support of Humbert and his fellow Frenchmen.

While Humbert had been capturing hearts and hopes and making history all week in Bercy — reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 final, while moving up to a career-best No. 14 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings — Zverev also had a lot of incentive to do well, too. After all, he was looking to win his second ATP Masters 1000 title of the season after capturing the Rome crown in May. Throughout the final, Zverev’s focus and determination were on point and unwavering. He was the better player.

Despite struggling with his health during the latter part of the season, Zverev upped the level of his game as the match wore on. He broke Humbert without much difficulty in the opening game of the second set. After winning a string of 20 out of 26 points, Zverev found himself a set and a break ahead with another Masters 1000 title starting to come into focus.

Soon, Zverev garnered another double-break lead as Humbert continued to pile up the unforced errors while trying to defend against his overmatched opponent. The German hit an inside-out forehand winner — his 12th — to widen his lead to 4-0. However, Humbert wasn’t quite ready to concede the title just yet. He won back the crowd with his service hold, but down a set and 1-4 knew the odds weren’t too favorable.

Finally, ahead a set and 5-2, Zverev closed out the title victory with one last marvelous rally on match point. He hit a forehand volley winner off a net-chord return from Humbert to cap a 15-shot tussle, then began his celebration.

“It was not 100 percent guaranteed that I would be back at this level after Roland-Garros two years ago, when I basically broke everything possible in my ankle,” Zverev recalled. “So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I’m sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me.”

Humbert, who is 6-2 in tour-level finals, said during the trophy ceremony: “I’m extremely happy to have played in this final. To have my family and team with me the whole week has been incredible. It’s for moments like this why I do this every day, why I train.”

The Rolex Paris Masters began at the Accor Arena in 1986 with a German champion — Becker — and concluded its historic run in Bercy with another one in Zverev.

“The stadium is absolutely beautiful,” Zverev said. “It’s one of the most beautiful stadiums we have. The center court is not the reason we’re moving. It’s one of the most prestigious and beautiful stadiums in the world. To win my last match here is incredible.”

Koolhof and Mektic win third Masters 1000 title of season

With a perfectly-placed service ace on championship point, Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia celebrated their last ATP Masters 1000 event together by winning the Rolex Paris Masters title Sunday afternoon. They finished with a flourish.

Koolhof and Mektic, seeded sixth, defeated unseeded Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain and Mark Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, 3-6, 6-3,10-5, in an hour and 12 minutes on Court Central. It was their first match tie-break of the tournament.

The title was the second straight ATP Masters 1000 crown for the Dutch/Croatian pair following Shanghai last month and the third one of the 2024 season for them after capturing Indian Wells in March. They’ve now won five ATP Tour titles this season, most of any team. Glasspool and Pavlasek were playing in their first tournament as a team.

“It’s very special,” Koolhof, who will retire at the end of the season, said in an on-court interview with ATP Media before the trophy ceremony. “To win three Masters in a year is an unbelievable achievement from both of us. We hit a rough patch in the middle of the season but, before Shanghai, we knew what was at stake to make Turin.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling [winning] my last two Masters of my career.”

Koolhof and Mektic won 82 percent of their first-serve points, hit two aces and converted one of five break-point chances. They outpointed their opponents 59-52.

The duo of former No. 1 players, who first played together during the 2020 season and won the 2020 Nitto ATP Finals title, improved to 67-29 as a team — including 43-16 in 2024. Next, Koolhof and Mektic will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin later this month. They are currently No. 3 in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Rankings.

“We have such a good friendship, energy and understanding,” Mektic added. “It’s outstanding that on court and off the court we really enjoy being together. It’s very crucial.”

Around the Rolex Paris Masters

With the completion of the 39th edition of the Rolex Paris Masters Sunday, the ATP Masters 1000 event will leave its longtime home along the Seine in Bercy (12th arrondissement) for a bigger arena in the suburbs.

Next year at this time, the tournament will be played in a newer, bigger venue, La Défense Arena, in Nanterre, about a 45-minute drive from Accor Arena in Bercy.

La Défense Arena will offer more courts and more modern facilities than the 1980s-built Accor Arena, which resembles a concrete pyramid that just turned 40.

By the numbers

Sunday marked first time since 2011 that a Frenchman competed in the Rolex Paris Masters final, when Jo-Wilfried Tsonga finished as runner-up.

“Quotable …”

“It’s nice, for sure. It’s nice to be back at the highest position that I have been so far. Of course I want to get higher, but for me still Jannik has the best year this season, for sure, and then Carlos had the second-best year. He won two Grand Slams.

“I know that I’m ahead of him in the rankings maybe, but for me he won Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Those are two massive titles. So they are still the two best players in the world, in my opinion, at the moment.”

— Alexander Zverev, during his post-match news conference Saturday, on the significance of becoming World No. 2 on Monday.

 

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