The German Alexander Zverev, 3rd player in the world, easily won against French number one Ugo Humbert (6-2, 6-2) in the final of the Masters 1000 in Paris, this Sunday, November 3 in Bercy. At 27, Zverev won his seventh Masters 1000 title, the very first in Paris. For his very first final contested in this category of tournament, Humbert lost without challenge and failed to become the first Frenchman to win the Paris tournament since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.
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Only Zverev will have resisted him in Paris. After dismissing the world number two Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16, then the powerful Karen Khachanov on Saturday in the semi-finals, the French number one Ugo Humbert was powerless against the German Alexander Zverev, exceptional this Sunday in Bercy (6-2, 6-2).
Messin did not repeat his mistake from the day before, showing a lot of serenity when entering this final. But the German held his ground, demonstrating his ability to return shots from the baseline and respond to the variations imposed by the Frenchman, regularly pushing him to make mistakes during the first games (1-2). Solid in all areas of the game, Zverev did not leave many solutions to Humbert who quickly found himself in trouble with two breaks behind (1-4). Humbert managed to slightly reduce the gap after five lost games in a row, but was never able to stop the clear domination of Zverev, imperial during a first set won without difficulty (2-6). With 17 unforced errors for the Frenchman, compared to only 4 for his opponent, the Lorraine showed himself too feverish during the exchanges to worry the German colossus.
Seventh Masters 1000 title for Zverev
The dynamic did not reverse during the second round, turning to correction for the Frenchman facing a Zverev impregnable on the exchanges and impeccable on his returns (0-3). Humbert experienced a real descent into hell during the second set, where he only won his first game after 27 minutes of battle (1-4). Unstoppable, distributing cannon shots diagonally and always so diligent on his shots (9 unforced errors for Zverev against 25 in total for Humbert), the German logically won (6-2) to win the 7th Masters 1000 of his career, the very first in the French capital after his final lost in 2020 against the Russian Daniil Medvedev.
“ I knew we had to play like that to win today. And if the public was behind him, he had to start strong from the start “, declared the German after his victory. Despite the defeat, the Frenchman wanted to keep the best of his incredible week in Paris: “ This tournament is just incredible. A page is turning here. I came here as a child, it made me want to do what I’m doing today, I’m already very happy to have participated in this final “. This match was in fact the very last played at Bercy, before the tournament moves in 2025 to La Défense Arena in Nanterre, west of the French capital.
With this 23rd title on the ATP circuit, the German is assured of overtaking the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz on Monday and occupying 2nd place in the world rankings. He now has to win for the first time in a Grand Slam, where he has never managed to triumph and will inevitably be expected in January to compete with Sinner and Alcaraz at the Australian Open.