Log inAn emotional final edition at the Accor Arena Bercy! The first year without our Big-3, historic records for the French players, record attendance, this year will be remembered for a long time. Let’s take a look back at this emotional week.
A finalist in 2020 in the same Accor Arena stadium at Bercy, Sascha finally won his first title in Paris after narrowly missing out this summer at Roland-Garros. By a twist of fate or irony of destiny, he is the second German to win the Rolex Paris Masters, succeeding Boris Becker, who was the tournament’s first winner in 1986. Completing the circle, Zverev is the last winner at Bercy’s Accor Arena, as the tournament moves to Paris La Défense Arena for its 40th edition next year.
A thrilling final
Winning in 2 sets, 6/2 6/2, the German gave no chance to his opponent, the Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who had been having a remarkable tournament up to that point. Stronger than Alcaraz or Khachanov in previous rounds, the young “Ugoat” succumbed to the merciless Zverev in just 1h15 of play. Aggressive from the start, the German knew he couldn’t give his opponent the upper hand, encouraged and motivated by the fervor of his home crowd. He didn’t miss a single opportunity and left very little space for the Frenchman, giving him no chance to gain the upper hand in the match: in total, he gave up just 5 points on his serve. An impressive statistic for a match that was masterfully played from start to finish.
Deserved revenge
After being crowned champion in Paris, Zverev was quick to thank his teams and remind them of how far he had come and how much effort had been required to reach this level of play again, since his impressive fall and ankle injury in the French Open semi-final against Nadal in 2022. A Paris triumph that is worthy of the sacrifices made, a victory that means so much to him and which, as of Monday, takes him up to No. 2 in the world rankings, behind Sinner.
New goals
With his seventh Masters 1000 title to his name, Zverev explains that he wants to adapt his game to match the aggressive level of new record-holders Sinner and Alcaraz. A few years older than them, he too is keen to make his mark on the game. His next objective: to win a Grand Slam.
The young Frenchman did not disappoint. He left his mark on the week’s competition at the Rolex Paris Masters. But it wasn’t just him: his fellow French players managed to put an end to the bad blood and five of them reached the last round of 16: Rinderknech, Cazaux, Humbert, Fils and Mannarino. A record equalled since it had only happened once before, and then never again since 2009.
Winning the Alcaraz phenomenon
As an outsider, Ugo Humbert played an exceptional match in the Round of 16 against world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz. Winner in 3 sets, 6/1 3/6 7/5 Humbert was able to impose his game from the very first set. Too fast for Carlito, who got off to a far too slow start, the Murcian rallied at the start of the second set and was finally able to cut loose to regain the advantage. In the end, it was a cockfight in the third set, with a series of admirable points keeping the crowd on its toes. The Spaniard lost on his serve, on the second match point of a solid Ugo Humbert.
A faultless run to the final
After Alcaraz, the path was clear for our Frenchman. Ugo Humbert’s momentum was exceptional, and he set his short-term goals point by point, defeating Australian Thompson 6/2 7/6 to meet Khachanov in the semi-finals, who himself defeated Dimitrov in two sets 6/2 6/3 on his side of the draw. With the hope of another Bercy title for Khachanov and a first Masters 1000 final at the end of the tunnel for Humbert, the two adversaries arrived determined and offered us a sensational match with a level of play that lived up to expectations. The Frenchman came out on top in 3 sets, 6/7 6/4 6/3, leaving the Russian on his kneecaps.
One step closer to the goal
After his defeat in the final, Ugo Humbert climbed 4 places in the ATP rankings to reach 14th in the world. Now ranked No.1 in France, he hopes to achieve his goal of reaching the World TOP10 by the end of the season.
This final season of the Rolex Paris Masters at the Accor Arena in Bercy was a fitting end to the challenge. After 39 years at this venue, the Masters 1000 will move to the Paris La Défense Arena next year. As Europe’s largest venue, with more comfortable facilities for players and spectators alike, the move is eagerly awaited. And this augurs well for the future, with this year’s record attendance of 276,416, visitors, up 6,300 on the previous year.
Credit photos: FFT
