His consecutive packages at Indian Wells, Vienna and Antwerp did not bode well. On Saturday, Ugo Humbert announced that he would no longer play the year 2021. Blame it on what? The young Messin, 23, does not give a precise justification, apart from having lived through “the last trying months”. “Unfortunately, I did not manage to return to the Tour despite my determination and all my efforts,” he wrote on his social networks.
A state of general fatigue and psychological wear, could be at the origin of his decision, which deprives him de facto the Rolex Paris Masters which started on Monday, and especially the Davis Cup that the French number 2 – 29th in the world, behind Gaël Monfils (21st) – was to play with the group led by Sébastien Grosjean. “It’s a very difficult decision but it is better at this stage to take care of myself to consider a good 2022 season,” he continues. (…) It is heartbreaking not to be able to play Bercy and the Davis Cup this year, events to which I am particularly keen. “
Author of a sawtooth year 2021 (title in Halle, quarter-finals at the Olympic Games) where he was quickly eliminated in the Grand Slam tournaments (2nd round at the Australian Open, 1st round at Wimbledon, Roland -Garros and the US Open), Humbert is struggling to find the influx. He has not won a match since August 9 in Toronto, during the first round of the Rogers Cup, against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego. And has not appeared on a court since his elimination in the first round of the Challenger d’Orléans at the end of September…
Monfils return in perspective?
Deprived of their main asset in Innsbruck for the first round of the Davis Cup (November 25 to December 5), the Blues will have to fend for themselves as they can against Great Britain and the Czech Republic. Will Ugo Humbert’s package push Grosjean to recall his highest ranked player at ATP, Gaël Monfils, to accompany the young Arthur Rinderknech (65th) or the experienced Richard Gasquet (76th), in addition doubles players Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut?
The final phase of the new Davis Cup brings together 18 nations over ten days, between Madrid (Spain), Innsbruck (Austria) and Turin (Italy) and begins with a group stage. If they qualify for the quarter-finals by finishing first in Group C, Sébastien Grosjean’s players will play again in Austria, against the first in Group F (Serbia, Germany, Austria).
