French number one Ugo Humbert will play the unseeded Australian Jordan Thompson on Friday for a place in the semi-finals at the Paris Masters after outmuscling the world number two Carlos Alcaraz in three sets in the last-16.
Humbert, the 15th seed, came through the encounter with the French Open champion 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and and 17 minutes.
“I thought even if I win or lose I will fight till the end,” Humbert told the packed stands at the Accor Arena in Bercy in south-eastern Paris.
And to the delight of the 16,000 partisans, he added: “I didn’t give up. I told myself I was capable of winning. And thanks to you, I did. Thank you."
Path
Humbert reached the last eight at the Paris Masters in 2020 and will take on Thompson for the the second time this year.
The 30-year-old won in the first round in three sets at the Cincinnati Masters in August.
"It will not be easy against Jordan," added Humbert. "It was a close match back in the summer but I’m looking forward to this next one. I don’t want to stop at the quarter-finals."
Humbert was the only one of the five local heroes to survive Thursday’s last-16 encounters.
Damage
Veteran Adrian Mannarino went down to Thompson in straight sets while the French number two, Arthur Fils, lost to the third seed Alexander Zverev in three sets.
Arthur Cazaux and Arthur Rinderknech were dispatched respectively by the 2022 champion Holger Rune and last year's beaten finalist Grigor Dimitrov.
The exploit, though, was Humbert’s. The 26-year-old swept through the opening set against the French Open champion in 25 minutes.
But Alcaraz broke to lead 4-2 in the second and held on to his advantage to claim the set 6-3 and level affairs.
Both men dominated play with their service in the decider. And trailing 4-5, Alcaraz had to serve to stay in the match after two hours.
He succeeded.
Skill
Humbert displayed guts and no little aplomb to notch up the game to lead 6-5.
He started with a double fault and failed in the subsequent points to land a first serve. But he ground his way through with a sumptuous forehand passing shot on the run. An angled backhand half volley and another forehand winner were added to the showreel.
Alcaraz cracked trying to save himself for a second time.
He started with a double fault and soon found himself facing two match points. Though he saved the first with a big serve, on the second, Humbert kept his nerve in a baseline exchange and raised his fist in triumph to the roars of the crowd as Alcaraz's backhand drive flew past the base line.
In other last-16 ties, 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas came from a set down to defeat the unseeded Argentine Francisco Cerundolo and eighth seed Alex De Minaur from Australia pulled off the same feat to dispatch the Briton Jack Draper.
Karen Khachanov, the 2018 champion, was more emphatic.
He dismissed another Australian Alexei Popyrin 7-6, 6-4 to set up a clash with Dimitrov.
