Carlos Alcaraz suffered a last-16 exit to Ugo Humbert in Paris; Alexander Zverev progressed and faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the quarter-finals, with Grigor Dimitrov also through; Alex de Minaur came from a set down to beat Britain's Jack Draper
Thursday 31 October 2024 23:32, UK
Frenchman Ugo Humbert produced one of the performances of his career to claim a shock victory over world No 2 Carlos Alcaraz and reach the Rolex Paris Masters quarter-finals.
Humbert was backed by an energetic home crowd during his 6-1 3-6 7-5 victory over the four-time Grand Slam winner, where he booked a quarter-final meeting with Australia's Jordan Thompson.
A flurry of winners had Alcaraz 5-0 down in a first set so one-sided that the Spaniard ironically waved his racket and grinned to the crowd after holding in the sixth game, only for Humbert to hold and take the opener in just 26 minutes.
Alcaraz controlled the second set but, after missing chances during the third set, served to stay in the match. Humbert held to move 6-5 up in the decider before Alcaraz, having already saved one match point on serve, went long to complete the Frenchman's impressive win.
"There were some incredible points, I think I have just experienced one of my greatest moments on a tennis court," Humbert said. "I don't want it to end here."
Grigor Dimitrov kept his hopes alive of reaching the season-ending ATP Finals after a dramatic victory over France's Arthur Rinderknech, with the Bulgarian needing to reach the final in Paris to move inside the top-eight in the season-long standings.
Dimitrov raced through the first set before experiencing a valiant comeback by Rinderkneck, with the 33-year-old needing a final-set tie-break to claim a 6-2 4-6 7-6 victory and reach his 20th Masters 1000 quarter-final.
Alex de Minaur also boosted his own chances of qualifying by coming back from a set down to beat Jack Draper 5-7 6-2 6-4, ending the Brit's hopes of a maiden ATP Finals appearance in the process.
Draper would have needed to win in the French capital this week and then follow it up with another strong week at a smaller event next week, but he came unstuck in his seventh match in eight days.
"You can never say 'job done' in the middle of a tournament, that's not in my DNA," De Minaur said, when asked about the Live Race. "Obviously I'm super-stoked with the win, but I will keep on doing my best and keep on trying to win more matches."
Dimitrov will next face Karen Khachanov, who saw off Australia's Alexei Popyrin in straight sets, while De Minaur will take on Denmark's Holger Rune in Friday's quarter finals.
Rune struggled against French lucky loser Arthur Cazaux, who replaced world No 1 Jannik Sinner after he pulled out with a virus, as he recovered from a set down to win 3-6 6-3 6-4.
Alexander Zverev won the serving battle and silenced the raucous home crowd to beat France's Arthur Fils 6-4 3-6 6-3, booking the French Open runner-up a quarter-final meeting with Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas.
"The atmosphere here is a lot louder than at Roland Garros," Zverev said. "It feels the court is smaller and the crowd is on top of you. It is something we don't get a lot on tour but I love it."
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