Tennis: Humbert offers Bercy a final thrill

One last thrill before turning off the sound: French tennis, with its No.1 Ugo Humbert, can dream of a coronation for the last final at Bercy of the Masters 1000 in Paris on Sunday, where it will challenge world No.3 Alexander Zverev .

At the end of the match accelerated by an injury to the right thigh of Russian Karen Khachanov (21st), Humbert won 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-3 after 2h45 minutes of duel.

Here is the slender left-hander with the backwards cap in the final of a Masters 1000, the most prestigious tournament category behind the four Grand Slams, for the first time in his career, at 26 years old.

“I’m so happy it’s happening here, in my favorite tournament, in front of you”he rejoiced.

Goosebumps also spread to his trainer Jérémy Chardy. “It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced an emotion like that, with the public sharing it,” he said.

What if the venue in eastern Paris closed its almost four decades of tennis history in apotheosis?

In 38 editions before 2024, Bercy has only had three French winners: Guy Forget (1991), Sébastien Grosjean (2001) and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (2008).

Humbert’s turn on Sunday? In any case, French tennis already has the pleasure, for the first time in more than eight years in Masters 1000, of seeing one of its own enter the court on Sunday, the day of the final. The latest one? Gaël Monfils in Monte-Carlo in 2016.

Vibrant Bercy had not been to such a party for thirteen years, with Tsonga in 2011.

Humbert becomes only the eighth French player to reach the Masters 1000 final, after Forget, Tsonga, Richard Gasquet, Monfils, Cédric Pioline, Grosjean and Gilles Simon.

« Second souffle »

Forget, Henri Leconte, another figure in French tennis, but also Robert Pirès, 1998 world champion, and Thierry Omeyer, double Olympic handball champion: the elite of French sport flocked to the stands for the occasion.

Against Khachanov, it is not his transcended version, the sharpest, the one to which everything succeeds, that Humbert proposed.

His less precise play cost him the loss of the first set, after 73 minutes of combat. But a renewed aggressiveness and solid defense allowed him to win the second round.

“It was a little more complicated match today, I went through a lot of states. I missed a lot of attacking shots, you gave me extra energy, a second wind at the start” of the decisive set, Humbert told an adoring audience.

Round after round since the start of the week, Humbert has made Bercy shiver, at the time of his last tennis emotions. By being one of the five French players qualified for the round of 16, a Parisian tournament record equaled. By knocking out world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16. Then by inviting himself into the last four in Masters 1000 for the first time in his career, and now in the final.

On the other side of the net on Sunday, there will be world No.3 Alexander Zverev.

In the first semi-final, the German dominated world No.13 Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).

Already assured of dislodging Carlos Alcaraz from second place in the world on Monday and equaling the best ranking of his career, the 26-year-old Hamburg colossus is aiming for a seventh Masters 1000 title, the second in 2024 after Rome.

He has already played a final in the Parisian venue: behind closed doors in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, he lost to Russian Daniil Medvedev in 2020 (5-7, 6-4, 6-1).

“This is my second final in Paris this year. I hope I don’t lose another one.”said Zverev, beaten at Roland-Garros by Alcaraz.