Zverev crushes Humbert in Paris Masters final
The German won in straight sets (6-2, 6-2) to claim his second Masters 1000 title of the season
Alexander Zverev demolished Ugo Humbert in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters (6-2, 6-2) to claim his second Masters 1000 of the season after Rome, the seventh of his career.
“I knew I had to play like this to win today,” Zverev said to British television afterwards, acknowledging that the partisan home crowd was a factor of which he was very aware.
“I knew that once the crowd gets involved it would be very, very difficult.”
Zverev becomes the second German to win the Paris title, joining Boris Becker, who won a trio of tournaments (1986, 1989, 1992) – and he will also be the second seed at the forthcoming ATP Finals.
Humbert had never before reached the last four of a Masters 1000, while Zverev was playing in his 13th final in this category of tournament – his second in Paris, having lost to Daniil Medvedev in the 2020 final – making him much more physically and mentally prepared.
The German also made an interesting choice just before the start of the match, winning the toss and choosing to receive to put extra pressure on Humbert, who made 17 unforced errors in the first set alone.
Meanwhile, Zverev lost just one point on his serve in the opening set, which he took in just over half an hour – and five points over the course of the match.
Humbert: It was tough for me
Humbert was aiming to become the first Frenchman since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win the title in Paris (2008) and to win an ATP Masters 1000 title (2014, in Toronto). He would have been the fifth Frenchman to win a Masters 1000 tournament, and the only active player from France to do so.
He was seeking the third win of his career over an opponent ranked in the top three, having already beaten Carlos Alcaraz in the third round earlier in the week to add to his victory over Daniil Medvedev at the 2022 ATP Cup.
“He was better than me in every part of the game, and physically it was tough for me today [after] my battle against Karen [Khachanov in the semi-final],” Humbert admitted afterwards.
Asked to explain the difficulty he was experiencing, he replied in French (in quotes translated by the tournament’s transcribers): “It was because physically I was tired. It was tougher for me. So I tried to speak to myself, to kick some things inside of me.
“But the body wouldn’t react. My head would like to, but my body didn’t want to do anything. That’s what I felt.”
