By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday November 3, 2024
Alexander Zverev hammered past home hope Ugo Humbert to claim the Paris title, his seventh at the Masters level.
Photo Source: TTV
Heading into the business end of this year’s Paris Masters, with no sign of seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, Germany's Alexander Zverev did what was expected of him.
He dominated all comers and swept away with his seventh Masters title, capping off his run with a lopsided 6-2, 6-2 takedown of home hope UGO Humbert on Sunday for his 23rd career title.
Zverev took the crowd out of the match from first ball, denying Humbert the feverish energy that had helped guide him through his upset of Carlos Alcaraz in the round of 16, and in subsequent victories over Jordan Thompson in the quarterfinals and Karen Khachanov in the semifinals to reach his first Masters 1000 final.
“I knew I had to play like this to win today,” said Zverev, who will rise to No.2 in the ATP rankings in Monday’s fresh rankings. “Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does and I knew that. Once the crowd gets involved, it’s going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away early, and I did, so I’m happy about that.”
It was a tough day at the office for Humbert, the first French player to pay the Paris Masters final since 2011, but he came feeling inspired after his magical run to the final.
“It was a beautiful week, despite my defeat today. My feeling is that I gave it my all. I have no regrets,” the 26-year-old said. “He was stronger than me in every aspect of tennis. I couldn't recover from yesterday's match enough, but congrats to him.”
In truth, Zverev was too hot too handle on Sunday. He dropped just five points on serve, never faced a break point and converted four of six break opportunities to leave Humbert in the dark from the get-go of both sets.
It was a supremenly confident and assertive performance from the 27-year-old, who closed out the tournament’s era in Bercy (1986 to 2024) as the second German to ever raise the trophy in the Accor Arena. Three-time champion Boris Becker was the other.