The Spanish Carlos Alcaraz, number 2 in the world, stumbled this Thursday in the round of 16 of the Paris Masters 1,000 against the Frenchman Ugo Humbert (18), an unorthodox tennis player who ended up winning by 6-1, 3-6 and 7-5 in 2 hours and 20 minutes.
Off-center at the start of the match, the player from Murcia managed to equalize the contest with patience and skill, but, when it seemed that his game was at its best level, he ran into a tough rival supported by the stands.
Nothing to do with the bath he gave a month ago in Valencia in the Davis Cup, also indoors. In Paris he encountered a rival with more confidence and more solid tennis.
Alcaraz added his second defeat of the year in the French capitalwhere he has won 13 times, and once again showed that the indoor tournament does not bring him luck. He fell in the round of 16 as in his first performance against the Frenchman Hugo Gastón, but this time he fought harder for victory.
The world number 2 took a while to find his best version and, when he did, he found a Humbert full of confidence, settled in a public that cheered him and capable of displaying a tennis that adapts like a glove to the conditions he presents. the tournament.
Quite the opposite of Alcaraz, who only found brilliance at times, but it was not enough to overcome a nightmare start that gave wings to his rival.
Like a hurricane the French entered the game, an aggressive tornado that turned his left foot into a fearsome weapon. Nothing is orthodox in the 18th in the world, who takes the game to madness, with his off-center serve, his aggressive game, his lack of rhythm that complicates the dynamics.
In the first set it was all on his side, because Alcaraz was absent, missing on the center court shouting in favor of his rival but not against him, enough not to awaken the ghosts of his duel on that same stage three years ago against Hugo Gaston.
But nothing was working on the Spaniard’s side, who multiplied the errors and turned his rival, whom he also defeated indoors in Valencia a month ago, into a marvel.
In 18 minutes, the marker was already spitting out a blushing markere, 5-0, twelve unforced errors and only two winners from the Spaniard, who let the first set slip away with only 14 points in his locker.
The public rubbed their eyes, half enthusiastic about the feat of their compatriot and saddened by the sad performance of one of their idols.
He planned the danger of Alcaraz abandoning the tournament like last year, almost by default, unable to find a way to counteract Humbert’s unorthodoxy.
The Spaniard did not despair, he continued running along the back of the track following the Frenchman’s dictates, waiting for the Frenchman’s machinery to begin to rust, for him to start making mistakes by looking for risk.
The second set was another story. It was no longer a monologue and Humbert began to have doubts.synonymous with errors. Alcaraz took a step forward, began to find his shots and after threatening his serve in the fourth, ended up snatching it away in the sixth, which brought the Frenchman down from the clouds.
Now the contest was even and Alcaraz seemed to regain his serenity and smile, which looked broad during the long pause the Frenchman took to go to the bathroom.
The duel was ready to be a battle of power to power, because if Alcaraz recovered his tennis and gave away some of the spectacular points that forge his legend, Humbert did not fade away and the match took on epic airs.
One of those that are resolved in the wire, in the fine details that separate victory from defeat when both deserve more. Alcaraz failed there, as he was unable to finish some well-constructed key points to gain an advantage, which gave oxygen to the Frenchman who did not waste the opportunities he had.
Defocused on final game, he let his serve escape and put himself in the middle in the idyll with Paris.
Ugo Humbert, the best Frenchman in the ranking, will compete for a place in the semifinals against the Australian Jordan Thompson, 28th in the world, executioner of the Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
2024-10-31 18:28:00