The Frenchman Ugo Humbert, 18th player in the world, reached the final of the Masters 1000 in Paris by overthrowing the Russian Karen Khachanov (6-7, 6-4, 6-3) at the end of the suspense, this Saturday, November 2 in Bercy . He is the first French finalist since 2016 in this category of tournaments, the most prestigious after the four Grand Slams, and only the fifth Frenchman to play a final in the Paris Masters. He will face the German Alexander Zverev on Sunday, winner of the Dane Holger Rune (6-3, 7-6) in the first semi-final.
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Ugo Humbert’s crazy week continues. After a 2h30 standoff against the Russian Karen Khachanov, the Lorraine finally snatched victory at the end of the suspense (6-7, 6-4, 6-3) to offer himself his first Masters 1000 final and glimpse a first title in the tournament since that of Tsonga in 2008.
In a Bercy room entirely committed to his cause, the Lorraine took time to get into his match, a sign of the stakes of such a match for the Frenchman. After tense first games, where he countered his opponent’s powerful play by varying his shots well, Humbert began to pay for his excitement with gross mistakes, letting the Russian make the break (2-3).
Never left behind by the Russian but in full doubt and unable to regain his excellent level of play at the start of the tournament, Humbert thwarted several times by committing gross errors at the end of the set. After winning a superb exchange of nine shots to get back to 5-5, the Lorraine then took advantage of his opponent’s unforced errors to regain the lead (6-5). But tenacious, Khachanov did not give up one step to take him into the decisive game. After having negotiated the tie-break well, and very close to pocketing the first set at 5-2, the Frenchman then fell back into his faults. Still not completely liberated against the Russian who was able to show his power by passing forcefully with his forehand, Humbert finally let the first set escape 6-7 at the end of a very close decisive game (6-8).
Humbert freed himself on the wire
After a first set where he never really managed to regain his incredible level of play at the start of the tournament, Ugo Humbert was going to have to find the formula to get back into the match and make Khachanov also feverish at times doubtful. But the Russian continued his momentum, taking advantage of the hesitations of the Lorraine who sometimes missed easy points like on this volley at the net completely missed at 1-2.
In difficulty, on the verge of letting this semi-final escape him definitively, Humbert nevertheless managed to find the thread of his match by going back in front in the second set (4-2). As since the start of the match, where there was never more than two games between the two players, the Russian did not give him the opportunity to take too much of a lead by coming back in stride (4 -3). In a good dynamic, more serene and lucid than in the first set, Humbert relied on his serve and good volleys to pocket the second set and return to the game (6-4).
Still neck and neck in the last set, the two players let the suspense drag on without any of them managing to truly break away. After a muscular alert for Khachanov, who was clearly weakened on the court and even collapsed to the ground during an exchange at the very end of the set, the Frenchman was able to calmly move towards victory (6-3) and offer a very first Masters 1000 final, becoming only the fifth Frenchman to achieve this feat in the Parisian tournament. He will face the German Alexander Zverev on Sunday, winner of the Dane Holger Rune (6-3, 7-6) in the first semi-final.