“He coached me very well” – Humbert praises Chardy’s influence

Inevitably, he must have believed that history was going to repeat itself.

After losing the first set to Federico Coria, Ugo Humbert was not far from another defeat in Monte-Carlo, in what would have been his fourth straight first-round defeat at the tournament. Luckily for him, he got back into it and reversed the trend to get his first ever win in the Principality 4-6, 6-1, 6-2.

This victory could give him a lot of confidence, especially against a clay-courter specialist such as Coria. After the match, the Metz player heaped praise his coach Jérémy Chardy, who particularly helped him in this match.

“I started well. I led 3-2 after at least 35 minutes of play. It was tight. But after the break, I felt a bit lost on the court and I started playing high balls instead of hitting harder, trying to hit the line,” Humbert said in his post-match press conference.

“Jeremy (Chardy) coached me very well at that time and I was able to correct my game. I felt like I was playing too high and not varying the balls enough, not changing pace enough, and as soon as I corrected that, my game took on another dimension.

“When the ball is a little shorter, I try to move forward. I was able to find new areas and protect myself, and it went much better.”

HUMBERT supportive of ON-COURT COACHING

Having previously been banned on the court, and punishable by fines or warnings, coaching was allowed from July 2022, something which Humbert has fully embraced and is thankful for.

“I think it’s good now. Before, everyone was doing it, but we had to hide and we couldn’t hear what the coach was saying,” he explained.

“Now it’s much better, because the coach can give you very useful information. I like the way Jérémy trains me. I listen to him and as soon as he gives me information, I am able to materialize it on the field and that helps me a lot.”

In the next round, Humbert will face world No 48 Marcos Giron or No 49 Zhizhen Zhang. Whatever that match throws at him, Humbert knows he will still be able to count on the guidance from mentor Jérémy Chardy up in the stands.

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