UTS Grand Final London: Humbert determined to “take it to the next level” in 2025
Ugo Humbert returns to UTS to win the crown and hone his skills for the upcoming season
Ugo Humbert, Rolex Paris Masters 2024 | © Chryslène Caillaud / Panoramic
Ugo Humbert aka The Commander is ready for his final UTS mission of 2024. Humbert, the finalist in Frankfurt, has returned to UTS for the Grand Final in London, with the aim of crossing the finish line this time.
Tennis Majors caught up with the Frenchman in London ahead of his first assignment against Thanasi ‘Kokki’ Kokkinakis on Friday (December 5) at Copper Box Arena. “I was already super happy to qualify here,” the world No 14 said (translated). “That was the goal when I was in Frankfurt. But I’m going to take it match by match because there are some great players this week. If I had the opportunity to go and grab the trophy, I’m going to try to do it.”
Humbert capped off the 2024 season on the ATP Tour on a strong note by reaching the Paris Masters final, notably defeating world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz en route. Unfortunately, he couldn’t succeed against Zverev (lost 6-2, 6-2) in the title clash but that hasn’t changed his vision.
“I’m still the same guy, it hasn’t changed at all. It’s just that I had a great week and then there you go, I proved to myself that I could beat the very best in the world, that I was capable of going for this kind of title. I was already convinced of that. These are also steps to take. It means that I’m on the right path, that what I’ve been doing for two years is right. I’m not putting pressure on myself. I just try to do things well, to train hard regularly and then results like that come. I wasn’t surprised.”
I feel like I really want to take it to the next level”
Ugo Humbert
Humbert, 26, has so much to look forward to in tennis and he’s determined to improve himself to make an impact in 2025. He’s keen on raising the bar physically and tactically.
“I’ve already had ten good days of pre-season: I’ve sent it well, I’ve spoken to my whole team to tell them that I really want to take it to the next level physically. It’s very much focused on the physical but I also spend time on the court, because there are areas of the game that I want to improve. I’m at UTS and it’s perfect. We’ve worked a lot on the muscles and now it’ll be more cardio. After that I’m going to play the Caen tournament and I’ll finish with another week of training before leaving for Australia.”
However, the Frenchman isn’t big on setting ranking and tournament goals for himself, rather, he is focused on playing the next ball with all his might.
“My goal is to give it my all every day. That’s what I told myself at the end of the season. As soon as I set myself ranking and results goals, it put pressure on me, I didn’t necessarily play well, I got frustrated. Over the last two or three months, I’ve changed that way of thinking. I tell myself: ‘You give your all on each shot, you do your best, you commit and there’s no point in blaming yourself. There will be good surprises because I train well, I do things well, I play tennis well, I have a game that is annoying because I am ultra aggressive. I am left-handed too… If I do things naturally, there will be nice surprises.”
Also, the Metz-born sensation has understood the importance of switching off when required to keep himself fresh for the next goal. Notably, this was the reason he skipped the local Moselle Open in first week of November.
“It really did me good. I didn’t have a vacation all year so when you can allow yourself to take two or three weeks off it does your head good. It’s not just a question of being physically ready. If you’re not 100 percent mentally and you don’t have the energy to go into battle, you have no chance of winning. I want to manage my schedule better. I played way too much last year. You have to know when to take a break otherwise at some point you can’t take it anymore. I had a bit of a burnout because I couldn’t take it anymore. I didn’t want to go on the court anymore and I was exhausted. Managing these moments well will allow me to be as ready as possible for the big tournaments.”
Humbert is happy with the Djokovic-Murray link-up
Humbert is certainly motivated to achieve big things on the court in 2025, but at the same time, he’s a tennis fan like any other, keeping up with the latest ins and outs of the racquet sport. One such development that has grabbed the 26-year-old’s attention is Andy Murray joining Novak Djokovic’s coaching contingent.
“Djokovic took Murray because, quite simply, he still wants to win big titles. Murray has bothered him a lot during his career, so maybe Murray will give him some keys to use to try to beat Sinner and Alcaraz, who are currently the two best in the Grand Slam tournaments. He’s looking for something extra in Murray to try to win more big titles, because he feels capable of it. Djoko, you should never bury him. I think he knows very well what he’s doing. You have to be vigilant. I’m really happy with this relationship and it’s going to be nice for tennis to see Murray in Djoko’s box.”
