Ugo Humbert, the French No.1 and last Habs competing in the men’s draw, lost to the German Jan-Lennard Struff (24th) 7-5, 6-4 in 1h37 min in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid Sunday.
Struff, titled in Munich (Germany) a week ago, confirmed that he was one of the men in form of the moment: opposite, Humbert (14th) was far from unworthy, never gave up, but what to do when faced with a player with such a powerful serve and such heavy strikes, with insolent success (30 winning shots for only 8 unforced errors)? The French left-hander held on for up to 5 games throughout the first set. But four lost games later, he was a set and a break behind and was never able to catch up. Struff didn’t let him get a single break point in the game.
Outgoing finalist in the Spanish capital, Struff will face either Carlos Alcaraz, world No.3 and the one who deprived him of the trophy a year ago, or the Brazilian Thiago Seyboth Wild (63rd). Humbert was the only Frenchman still competing in the men’s draw.
In the women’s table, the last Frenchwoman, Caroline Garcia (24th), is opposed to the Italian Jasmine Paolini (13th) in the third round in the afternoon.
