From a Marseille Sports Palace heated to white heat by 7,000 spectators, to the anonymity of court no. 1 in Rotterdam, such is the life of a tennis player, stars at home on Sunday, once again becoming seeded (no. 7) lambda three days later. Despite his new number of 18th in the ATP rankings, a personal best, Ugo Humbert was eclipsed by his compatriot Gaël Monfils, still bankable despite his rank (70th), scheduled at the same time as him on the Central against Denis Shapovalov (127th).
Opposed to Emil Ruusuvuori (24 years old, 55th), the recent winner of the Open 13 had to adapt to the intimate atmosphere of this first round to try to finally defeat an opponent who had dominated him four times out of four until ‘then, at the end of highly contested matches, all punctuated by at least one tie-break. The fifth was no exception to the rule since Humbert lost again 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3 in 2h18, recording his second defeat of the season after that of the Australian Open , facing the Pole Hurkacz in the 3rd round.
Very in rhythm after two first blank service games, Messin experienced a first alert at 2-2. Two errors on the forehand and another on the backhand gave the Finn a first break point. Humbert dismissed him with a winning serve before starting the rally on the next point, demonstrating great physical intensity despite the efforts made last week in Provence.
Pushed by his coach Jérémy Chardy who we could clearly hear encouraging him with “Come on man, go get him!” », the Lorraine tied the game up to 6 points to 5, in the inevitable decisive game, in favor of the man who had led two sets to zero against Daniil Medvedev in the second round of the Australian Open. A backhand fault behind a first-second ball that was a little too neutral cost the French n°1 the initial set.
Humbert identified his pet peeve
To not pledge allegiance a fifth time and try to preserve an invincibility indoors which had lasted for eight matches, straddling 2023 and 2024 thanks to his titles in Metz and Marseille – his last defeat under a roof dating back to the 2nd round of the Masters 1000 of Paris against Alexander Zverev (6-4, 6-7, 7-6) – Humbert relied on his serve.
With a ratio of 73% of first balls and 77% of points won behind it in the second round, Humbert freed himself on his return games to immediately find the fault on the opposing commitment. He saved a break point at 3-2 and retained his advantage to get back into the lead after 1 hour 39 minutes of a serious, if not exciting, match.
In the decisive set, we thought he had done the hardest part by once again seizing Ruusuvuori’s serve to lead 2-1, given his solidity on his throws. But a weak time, undoubtedly caused by a mixture of physical and mental weariness in his opponent, allowed the Finn to set the record straight. Stopped in his momentum, suddenly less lively in defense, Humbert never managed to find the common thread against an opponent who now has all the attributes of his pet peeve.
