Published
Video length: 7 min
1/4 final: summary of the match Ugo Humbert vs Casper Ruud
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(France TV)
The Frenchman lost after a three-set fight (6-3, 4-6, 6-1) against the Norwegian, who joined Novak Djokovic, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Jannik Sinner in the final four.
We will have to wait a little longer for Ugo Humbert to experience his first Masters 1000 semi-final. However, he did not go far, he who became, this Friday April 12 in Monte-Carlo, the first Frenchman since Richard Gasquet in 2018 to reach the quarters of this tournament. Facing Casper Ruud, he lost in a match in three sets (3-6, 6-4, 4-6) and 2h06 of play.
It must be said that the Norwegian is used to clay, as evidenced by his status as a double finalist at Roland-Garros (in 2022 and 2023). Where his opponent of the day had, until this edition, not won a single match in the main draw in Monte-Carlo.
Ruud will face Djokovic for a place in the final
More comfortable on this playing field, the world No. 10 quickly broke his opponent and played his game until winning the first set (6-3). And if the scenario of the next set seemed to be a repetition of the previous one but, while Ruud led 2-0, the Frenchman hung on. He first broke to come back to level with his opponent, dismissed three break points in a twelve-minute game, and finally overturned this second act (6-4).
But Casper Ruud has experience on his side and the Scandinavian took advantage of the Frenchman’s few errors to take cover. Above all, he saved two break points in an important game, thus preventing Humbert from getting back to 3-2, and then winning without forcing (6-1).
“It’s always very hard to play against Ugo, whatever the surface”underlined Ruud, who admitted to having “a little tangled” in the second set. He will now meet Novak Djokovic, qualified after his victory against Alex De Minaur (7-5, 6-4), in the semi-final on Saturday. The world No. 10 doesn’t have it “never beaten” in five confrontations, as he recalled after the match and, according to him, has not “nothing to lose”.
The Frenchman takes stock of a very positive tournament, a few weeks before Roland-Garros. “It shows that I can play well on this surface, he analyzed at a press conference. I’m in the quarters, I have the opportunity to achieve my best result in Masters 1000, I’m playing one of the best on clay… I have to continue the work.” If he considers that he has lacked “physical” in the last set, he particularly appreciated his ability to not give up: “Until the last point, I believed in it. I told myself that I could still turn it around. And I have to keep that, it gives me a chance to do better.”