This week, the ATP Tour’s best players have flocked to Paris to compete in the final Masters 1000 event of the year.
Carlos Alcaraz will be hoping to win his first title at the event, while Jannik Sinner will look to recapture the world number one spot from the Spaniard.
The 2024 Paris Masters title was won by world number three Alexander Zverev, who will hope to continue his good form after an impressive showing in the Vienna Open final.
However, unfortunately for the fans in Paris, a home favourite will not be competing at the tournament this year.
Ugo Humbert withdraws from the Paris Masters
Ugo Humbert, the 2024 Paris Masters finalist, has withdrawn from his first-round match against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at this year’s event.
The Frenchman recently withdrew from his semi-final match at the Swiss Indoors tournament.
Jeremy Chardy – Humbert’s coach – told L’Equipe he was unsure of Humbert’s availability for the Paris Masters due to concerns regarding a recurring back injury.
In 2024, Humbert defeated Carlos Alcaraz 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 on his way to the Paris Masters final, before losing to Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-2.
One tennis fan reacted to the news of Humbert’s withdrawal on X [Twitter], saying: “Terrible news. He played really good tennis in the previous tournament.
“Indoor conditions are his absolute natural, where he played his best tennis, as he showed last year. A huge loss for the tournament and tennis itself.”
Ugo Humbert is set to leave the ATP top 30
As per the ATP live rankings, Humbert is set to lose 640 ATP points as a result of his withdrawal.
Consequently, he is set to fall 14 places in the ATP rankings to world number 36.
Humbert, who has developed into one of the best indoor hard court players on tour, is now unlikely to be seeded for the 2026 Australian Open.
Lucky loser Valentin Royer has taken Humbert’s spot in the Paris Masters main draw. He will face Swiss Indoors finalist Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the first round.
