The 26th player in the world was the only ray of sunshine for the French clan on Tuesday, after the zero score the day before for the first matches of the first round.
After six first failures, the French contingent will leave at least with a victory at Bercy. If the start of the Masters 1000 in Paris had been painful for French tennis, Ugo Humbert gave it a little smile. The 25-year-old qualified for the second round of the tournament on Tuesday October 31. End of course on the other hand for Gaël Monfils in a thriller of more than 2h40, the great hope Arthur Fils, and for Benjamin Bonzi.
Monfils like Gasquet, Humbert makes a strong impression
The blue regrets of the day are for Gaël Monfils. At home and in one of his favorite meetings of the season, the winner in Stockholm on October 22 was entitled to a hell of a mano a mano against the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. Monfils finally stalled against the 21e world player in three disjointed sets (4-6, 7-6, 7-5), in the style of his friend from the 86 generation, Richard Gasquet, on Monday.
Inconsistent, and no longer physically struggling from the second act, Monfils may have the impression of having missed his chance. The Parisian obtained a match point at 6-4, 5-4, then led 4-2 in the third set, thanks to five successful breaks. But the cauldron of Bercy was not enough to shake the Argentinian, more enterprising and tactically correct. Monfils saved two match points at 5-4, in vain.
The only survivor, Ugo Humbert was particularly convincing against the qualifier Marcos Giron. Messin, in good form in recent weeks (semi-final in Basel, quarter-final in Shanghai and Beijing), gave the American no chance, swept away 6-4, 6-3 in 1h24 of play. Service , net play, baseline attacks… Humbert will have shown the full extent of his technical palette (25 winning shots for only 5 unforced errors). Significant bonus, he is guaranteed to become French number one at the end of the tournament by overtaking Adrian Mannarino, released Monday.
Upgraded and worn wire
The number 10 seed, the German Alexander Zverev, now awaits Humbert in the second round, after having had to battle to dismiss the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics (4-6, 7-5, 6-4). Arthur Fils will not go any further. Highly anticipated at Bercy, the promise of French tennis did not exist against the German Daniel Altmaier (54th player in the world), winner without discussion (6-2, 6-4). “I tried to make the effort to prepare well for this tournament, I tried to pull myself away, but I’m tired and as a result I’m less lively“, analyzed the 38th in the world at a press conference. Benjamin Bonzi for his part gave in against the Serbian Dusan Lajovic (7-5, 6-3).
Besides Zverev, most of the big names on the circuit were there on Tuesday in the capital. Félix Auger-Aliassime (who will battle with Stefanos Tsitsipas for the second round clash), Hubert Hurkacz and even Andrey Rublev won. The only surprise, and a big one, was the premature exit of the world number two, Carlos Alcaraz.