Paris: Carlos Alcaraz, the French Open and Wimbledon champion, did not advance to the Paris Masters quarterfinals following a gripping 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 loss to local favourite Ugo Humbert on Thursday.
The Frenchman, world number 18, clinched the first set in 26 minutes while Alcaraz was off his game.
Spain’s number two in the world rankings fought back, leading 5-2 before securing the second set with a love game.
However, Humbert, lifted by the support of the home audience, managed to defeat Alcaraz in the final set, marking the first time since 2019 that a French player has beaten a top-five opponent at the Paris event. That year, his coach Jeremy Chardy triumphed over Daniil Medvedev in the second round.
The four-time Grand Slam champion mentioned that the court’s speed caught him off guard and was a significant reason for his subpar performance, noting it was markedly different from previous years.
In an earlier match, third seed Alexander Zverev overcame 20th-ranked Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, recovering from a dip in the second set to prepare for a match against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
The 10th-seeded Greek made a comeback from a challenging first set to defeat Argentine Francisco Cerundolo with scores of 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-2.
Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur also rallied from behind to overcome Britain’s Jack Draper 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.
Jordan Thompson, another Australian, advanced to the last eight by defeating Frenchman Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-6(5). However, fellow Australian Alexei Popyrin was ousted by Karen Khachanov with scores of 7-6(5), 6-4.
Unseeded Russian Karen Khachanov is set to face the eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the quarterfinals after the Bulgarian edged out a thrilling third-set tiebreak against Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, clinching a 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(5) win.
Danish 13th seed Holger Rune faced a tough match against French lucky loser Arthur Cazaux, who stepped in for Jannik Sinner when the world number one withdrew due to a virus. Nonetheless, Rune came from behind to secure a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
