In a meeting interrupted twice by rain at the start, including a long break of more than 2h15, Ugo Humbert was able to be the most constant against Denis Shapovalov (7-5, 6-4). It was not the most complicated of tasks facing a Canadian who seemed in moral distress, sometimes brilliant, and most often desolate, to the point of committing fourteen double faults, sometimes in series of three in a game. The Canadian, who has only won one game since the Australian Open, is going through a very bad period and he has shown it again.
Ugo Humbert is doing much better. In this disjointed match, he first knew how to win the battle of the few long rallies, before winning on the wire in the first heat, in particular thanks to a courageous climb. In the second set, you would have thought that Shapovalov had regained some of his chivalrous spirit, when he got two balls from 5-1, saved by his opponent with a forehand attack and a service winner.
Shapovalov drops five games in a row
But then it liquefied, imploding to finally lose five games in a row, without even stopping before the last substitution, while Humbert, consistent, and very solid on certain sequences, shattered his last hopes. “Ugo stayed in his thing, welcomed his coach Jérémy Chardy. It’s still a great victory, it’s been a long time since he beat a top 30 (at Wimbledon last year with Ruud). But it’s true that it was not easy with Shapovalov. He told me that Ugo made him wait for service, but Ugo didn’t even have time to place himself on the return leg so much he wanted to follow up on his commitments quickly…”
“It wasn’t easy at first, there was no rhythm, completed Humbert, opposed in the next round to the winner of the match Rublev-Lehecka. But when we came back from the locker room after the break, I was more reactive. I managed to stay focused and it wasn’t easy. One shot Denis was very good, one shot he missed… In the second set, he pretended to sell off. But in fact, not so much. When he nearly led 5-1, he ”wet” on a forehand, that meant he wasn’t selling off that much. And me, I managed to keep my pace and take my time in the service. It’s a victory that feels good. I was 160th in the world last August, and I find myself in the 3rd round here… I savor X1000! »
