PARIS To advance to the Paris Masters quarterfinals on Thursday, Frenchman Ugo Humbert used the enthusiasm of the home crowd to deliver one of his best career performances, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 3-6, 7-5.
In a first set so lopsided that four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz jokingly waived his racket and smiled to the audience after holding in the sixth game, he was down 5-0 to a blitz of forehand and backhand winners.
Humbert remarked, “I think I just had one of my greatest moments on a tennis court. There were some incredible points.” “I don’t want it to end here.”
The second-placed Alcaraz dominated the second set but had to serve to stay in the match after losing opportunities in the third set. A replayed point was jeered by the audience, but Alcaraz remained unfazed and won easily, 5–5.
In the following game, Humbert energized the Bercy Arena crowd after sensing a major upset.
The 26-year-old left-hander received applause after a spectacular angled volley and a thunderous winner that soared beyond his Spanish opponent. He also looked like he was ready to take a lap of honor after a fantastic forehand pass down the line at full stretch.
“I must give Ugo my congratulations. “He’s performed really well,” Alcaraz remarked. “He hits the ball in an unbelievable way.”
Although Alcaraz acknowledged that Hubert deserved to win, he remarked that it was more challenging for him because of the court’s abnormally fast pace, particularly given Humbert’s shots’ low trajectory.
The 21-year-old Spaniard stated, “The statistics showed that this is the fastest court in the Masters 1000, probably on the tour.” “The indoor Davis Cup court, for instance, (was) much slower.”
In the 12th game, a shaken-looking Alcaraz was behind 0-30. When Alcaraz committed a serve error, umpire Richard Haigh stepped in to calm the crowd and told them not to cheer. He then added in English, “Guys, you’re affecting both players.”
As the 15th-seeded Humbert set up a matchup with Australian Jordan Thompson in the round of eight, Alcaraz served again to remain in the match at 15-40. He saved one match point but returned long on the next.
Grigor Dimitrov, the eighth-seeded Bulgarian, defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5) to give himself a remote opportunity to advance to the ATP Finals, which conclude the season. Dimitrov, who served 17 aces, must advance to the final on Sunday and will next play Karen Khachanov, the 2018 champion.
Earlier, French youngster Arthur Fils lost to Alexander Zverev 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, silencing the boisterous home fans.
In their first indoor match, the third-seeded German scored 16 aces to the 20-year-old Fils’s 9.
“I’m glad I persevered today,” Zverev remarked. He is an excellent player who has made significant progress this season. I am excited for the upcoming fights that we will engage in.
The French Open runner-up, Zverev, served to end the match at 5-3, saving three break points.
“Compared to Roland Garros, the atmosphere here is much louder,” Zverev, 27, remarked. “You’re on top of the crowd.”
Then, in their 16th career match, he takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas, who is ranked 10th and leads 10-5.
The big-serving Greek earlier came back to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 to maintain his hopes of making it to the Finals in Turin, which are the year-end competition that brings together the top eight players from the season, next month.
Tsitsipas only converted three of his eleven break-point attempts, despite hitting nine aces and saving all three.
In other third-round matches, 2022 winner Holger Rune defeated lucky loser Arthur Cazaux 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, and ninth-seeded Alex De Minaur maintained his hopes of making it to the Finals with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 victory over Britain’s Jack Draper, the U.S. Open semifinalist.
Thompson defeated veteran Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-6 (5) to go to his first Masters quarterfinal, while Khachanov defeated Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Highest ranked Both Jannik Sinner and the record seven-time champion Djokovic withdrew from the Paris Masters.