Paris Masters: Humbert’s Triumph Assures A Frenchman In Last Bercy Final

Ugo Humbert
Ugo Humbert (photo: ATP Tour video)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, November 2, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

When Ugo Humbert closed out a hard-fought, three-set semifinal victory against Karen Khachanov that stretched across two hours and 45 minutes Saturday, it assured there would be a Frenchman playing in the title match of the last edition of the Rolex Paris Masters in Bercy. He smiled and saluted his legion of cheering French fans, who have helped fill Accor Arena all week and been supportive of him in each of his matches.

The World No. 18 Humbert, last of the eight Frenchmen among 56 competitors who are playing in the ninth and final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, prevailed over No. 21 Khachanov of Russia, 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3, on the home soil of Court Central in the 12th arrondissement along the Seine. He’s the fifth and final Frenchman to reach the title match in Bercy. Next year, the Rolex Paris Masters will move to a new Paris location in La Defense.

The victory advanced the 15th seed Humbert into his first final at the Masters 1000 level. He is also the first French ATP Masters 1000 finalist since Gaël Monfils in 2016 at Monte-Carlo and first Frenchman born in 1987 or later to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final.

The 26-year-old French No. 1 improved to 13-0 in indoor matches on French soil since losing to Alexander Zverev in the second round at Bercy last year. He went on to win titles in his hometown Metz and earlier this season at Marseille.

“It is amazing to do it in Paris at my favorite tournament. It is a dream,” Humbert said in his on-court interview with ATP Media. “It was a little bit difficult compared to the previous matches. I felt a little more pressure and after the loss of the first set I tried to enjoy the moment and be with the crowd. I did very well and I am super proud.”

Humbert finished with 32 winners and made 22 unforced errors against Khachanov, who countered with 26 winners and 19 unforced errors. Humbert converted five of 10 break points and outpointed his opponent 105-93. Khachanov was unable to move in the final two games of the match after injuring his leg earlier in the third set.

Later, in his post-match news conference, Humbert added: “For me, it was a real victory, because when you don’t feel good, you don’t play well. You manage to dig deep, to clinch a victory, and there is nothing better.”

Humbert gets rematch against Zverev in final

In his quest for a seventh ATP Tour title, Humbert will play the World No. 3 and third seed Zverev of Germany in Sunday’s championship final. Earlier, Zverev advanced with a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory over 2022 Paris champion and current World No. 13 Holger Rune of Denmark in an hour and 46 minutes to reach his first hard-court final of the season. He hit 25 winners and outpointed his opponent 78-64. The loss ended Rune’s hopes of making the Nitto ATP Finals field.

The victory was the 65th of the season for Zverev, which drew him even with Jannik Sinner for most ATP Tour wins in 2024. He also climbed to No. 2 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings, passing Carlos Alcaraz.

“I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself but he is a champion,” Zverev said in his on-court interview with ATP Media. “It is probably his favorite tournament and favorite court, but I am happy to be in my second final here. I am looking forward to it.”

So, too, is Humbert. In a week in which he’s strung together five quality wins against Brandon Nakashima, Marcos Giron, Alcaraz, Jordan Thompson and Khachanov, the Frenchman has moved up to No. 14 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and can achieve a career-high ranking of No. 11 if he beats Zverev for the title.

Humbert will take a 6-1 win-loss record in singles finals into Sunday’s tussle against Zverev. He’s 1-1 lifetime against the German.

Around the Rolex Paris Masters

Only two seeded doubles teams out of eight reached the semifinals. In the first match on Saturday, No. 6 seeds Wesley Koolhof of the Netherlands and Nikola Mektic of Croatia defeated unseeded Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand, 6-2, 6-4, in 66 minutes on Court Central.

Koolhof and Mektic combined for four aces and dropped only two points on their first serve. They faced no break points, converted three of nine break-point opportunities and outscored their opponents 59-36.

The Dutch/Croatian duo (44-16) are in search of their third Masters 1000 title of 2024 after winning Indian Wells and Shanghai. They have also won titles at Rotterdam and Auckland this season and already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals.

The second semifinal paired No. 4 seeds Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson of Australia against Lloyd Glasspool of Great Britain and Adam Pavlasek of the Czech Republic, who were playing together as team for the first time this week.

Purcell and Thompson (39-11) came in having won eight straight matches and four titles, including the US Open, but were upset by the British/Czech pair, 6-3, 6-4, in 68 minutes.

Glasspool and Pavlasek converted two of five break points and outpointed the Aussies 61-46 to advance against Koolhof and Mektic.

Saturday’s Rolex Paris Masters results

Sunday’s Rolex Paris Masters order of play

By the numbers

Alexander Zverev will be playing for his fifth different ATP Masters 1000 title at the Rolex Paris Masters. He’s won Madrid twice, Rome twice, Montreal once and Cincinnati once.

Ugo Humbert is the first Frenchman to reach the Rolex Paris Masters final since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga lost to Roger Federer in the 2011 title match. The last Frenchman to win the crown was Tsonga in 2008.

“Quotable …”

“The match against Zverev last year was crazy. The level of game was very high. It was amazing. It boosted my confidence.

“There are some matches where there are very good top players and I didn’t win, but I was not far. This is what I said to myself, that I was not far. This is where the stars align, because this won’t happen tomorrow.

“So I just want to recover, to prepare as much as I can. This is the only thing that is in my control for tomorrow, and I will do everything I have for the next fight.”

— Ugo Humbert of France, during his post-match news conference (translated from French), looking back on his 2023 Paris Masters loss to Alexander Zverev and what he learned.

 

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