French player Ugo Humbert used the support of the home crowd to deliver one of his best performances, defeating Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.
Humbert dominated the first set with a series of impressive forehand and backhand winners, putting Alcaraz, a four-time Grand Slam champion, in a surprising 5-0 deficit. Alcaraz even playfully waved his racket and smiled at the crowd after finally holding serve in the sixth game.
“There were some incredible points, I think I have just experienced one of my greatest moments on a tennis court,” Humbert said. “I don’t want it to end here.”
In the second set, Alcaraz took control, but after missing some opportunities in the third set, he had to serve to stay in the match. When the crowd reacted to a replayed point, Alcaraz remained calm and held serve at 5-5.
With the possibility of a major upset in the air, Humbert energized the crowd in the next game.
The 26-year-old left-handed player seemed ready to celebrate after hitting a fantastic forehand down the line and received cheers for a skillful angled volley and a powerful winner that zipped past Alcaraz.
“I have to congratulate Ugo. His performance has been really high,” Alcaraz said. “The way he hits the ball is unbelievable.”
Alcaraz acknowledged that Humbert deserved the win but mentioned that the unusually fast speed of the court posed a challenge for him, especially with the low angle of Humbert’s shots.
“The stats came out that this is the fastest court in the Masters 1000, probably on the tour,” the 21-year-old Spaniard said. “For example, the Davis Cup indoor court (was) way slower.”
A visibly shaken Alcaraz found himself down 0-30 in the 12th game. Umpire Richard Haigh stepped in to calm the crowd, asking them not to cheer when Alcaraz made a fault on his serve. He then said in English, “Guys, you’re affecting both players.”
As he served again to stay in the match at 15-40, Alcaraz saved one match point but then hit the ball long on the next one, allowing the 15th-seeded Humbert to advance to the quarterfinals against Australian Jordan Thompson.
Eighth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov defeated Arthur Rinderknech 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5), keeping his hopes alive for a chance to reach the season-ending ATP Finals. Dimitrov, who served 17 aces, needs to reach the final on Sunday and will face 2018 champion Karen Khachanov next.
Earlier, Alexander Zverev quieted the loud home crowd by beating French player Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 6-3. The third-seeded German hit 16 aces compared to nine for the 20-year-old Fils in their first indoor match against each other.
“I am happy I hung in there today,” Zverev said. “He is a great player and has improved a lot this year. I am looking forward to the next few battles we are going to have.”
Zverev, the runner-up at the French Open, saved three break points while serving for the match at 5-3. “The atmosphere here is a lot louder than at Roland Garros,” the 27-year-old Zverev said. “The crowd is on top of you.”
He will next face 10th-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas in their 16th career meeting, with Tsitsipas leading 10-5.
Tsitsipas earlier rallied to defeat Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2, keeping his chances alive to qualify for next month’s Finals in Turin, which gathers the season’s top eight players.
Although Tsitsipas hit nine aces and saved all three break points, he only converted three of his 11 break-point opportunities.
In other third-round matches, ninth-seeded Alex De Minaur continued his pursuit of a Finals spot with a 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 win against Britain’s Jack Draper, a U.S. Open semifinalist, while 2022 champion Holger Rune narrowly defeated lucky loser Arthur Cazaux 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Khachanov won against Alexei Popyrin 7-6 (5), 6-4, and Thompson reached the first Masters quarterfinal of his career by beating veteran Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-6 (5). Top-ranked Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Paris Masters, as did record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.
