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An inspired Ugo Humbert rode a raucous atmosphere and inspired shotmaking to a stunning third-round upset of Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The home favourite prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in a richly entertaining encounter to book a quarter-final spot at his home ATP Masters 1000. Humbert won the first five games of the match in a blistering start on Court Central, before his resolve was tested as Alcaraz grew into the occasion. Yet the Spaniard could not deny Humbert at the tail end of a tense deciding set, when the home favourite rediscovered his shotmaking touch in time to clinch his win.

“I’m just super proud of myself that I did it,” said Humbert. “It was a crazy match, a crazy atmosphere. Maybe my last in Bercy [before the tournament moves to a new venue from next year], so I tried to do everything tonight. It was a really big match.”

ALL HEART FROM UGO HUMBERT!!! ❤️??#RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/lrE4ZOofmx

Humbert’s two-hour, 17-minute win was the joint-biggest of his career by PIF ATP Ranking, equalling his victory against then-No. 2 Daniil Medvedev at the 2022 ATP Cup. The lefty, who is chasing his third ATP Tour title of the season this week after his victories in Marseille and Dubai, is the first Frenchman to earn a Top 3 win at Paris-Bercy since 2010, when Gael Monfils defeated No. 2 Roger Federer and Michael Llodra ousted No. 3 Novak Djokovic.

Alex de Minaur’s late charge to qualify for his maiden appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals is picking up serious pace at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The ninth seed rallied to defeat Jack Draper 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday, snapping the Briton’s seven-match winning streak. With the triumph, De Minaur climbed inside the qualification spots in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, passing Andrey Rublev to eighth.

“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 today, but I will keep on doing my best and keep on trying to win more matches.

“It took every ounce from me and I am just happy I was able to rally. I’m going to put my body on the line, try my hardest, show my opponent that I can do that all day. I needed to bring that intensity because Jack is a hell of a competitor, playing with so much confidence right now.”

Now that's dead-ication ??@alexdeminaur equals his personal-best 47th win of the season! #RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/mVDWpDwmnH

Alexander Zverev ended the run of French star Arthur Fils in front of an electric crowd at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday afternoon.

Backed by raucous home support on Court Central, Fils produced an intense performance and troubled the German with his dynamic game in an epic clash. However, with the pressure on, the 20-year-old ran out of steam in the decider, with World No. 3 Zverev earning a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 third-round victory in the French capital.

"I am happy I hung in there today. It was a great match," Zverev said after improving to 3-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Fils. "He is a great player and has improved a lot this year. I am looking forward to the next few battles we are going to have."

Zverev fired 16 aces and crucially saved three break points when serving for the match at 5-3. The German, who gained the decisive break of the third set in the fourth game, raised his arms aloft after sealing victory, silencing Fils and the French crowd in the process.

"The atmosphere here is a lot louder than at Roland Garros. It is crazy," Zverev said. "It feels the court is smaller and the crowd is on top of you. It is like an indoor atmosphere as well. It is something we don't get a lot on Tour but I love it. I love to play in Paris. It is one of my favourite cities in the world to play because of the crowd. They are very energetic and very loud."

On a day of doubles upsets at the Rolex Paris Masters, top seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos and second seeds Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic both fell in the second round.

In early action on Thursday, Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul moved past Arevalo and Pavic 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to reach the quarter-finals at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Competing on home soil, Doumbia and Reboul saved the one break point they faced and won 87 per cent (45/42) of their first-serve points according to Infosys ATP Stats to advance in front of a jubilant crowd after one hour and 43 minutes.

The Frenchmen are chasing their fourth tour-level title of the season and will next play Lloyd Glasspool and Adam Pavlasek after the British-Czech team downed fifth seeds Simone Bolelli and Andrea Vavassori 6-4, 6-4.

Neal Skupski and Michael Venus then shocked Granollers and Zeballos 6-4, 7-6(6). Skupski and Venus arrived in Paris off the back of a final run in Vienna and will take on Ariel Behar and Robert Galloway in the last eight. Behar and Galloway defeated Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski 4-6, 7-6(2), 10-5.

Coleman Wong made history earlier this season when he became the first player from Hong Kong since 1972 to win an ATP main draw match. The 20-year-old advanced to the second round at the ATP 250 in Hangzhou, gaining precious points in his quest to compete at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF.

Currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah, Wong will aim to finish the season strong and follow in the footsteps of previous champions who have competed at the 20-and-under event.

As part of our Next Gen Influences series, Wong caught up with ATPTour.com to talk about his first meeting with Carlos Alcaraz, his admiration for Jannik Sinner and his Jeddah goals.

Which former Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion did you enjoy watching most when growing up?
I enjoyed watching Carlos Alcaraz the most. I like watching Alcaraz play because of his game and his footwork. That [is how] I want to be in the future.

Who out of the former champions is your biggest idol and do you remember your first encounter with them?
I think it would be Carlos because I remember playing him at the junior Davis Cup when we were young. It was the first ever clay match of my life and I was facing Carlos, [who won]. It was quite an experience.

Arthur Fils and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard transferred some of their recent singles form to the doubles court on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The wild card duo downed Jamie Murray and John Peers 7-5, 7-6(6) in a tight first-round clash at the indoor ATP Masters 1000 event. Fils, who has won 10 of his past 12 singles matches, and last week’s Basel champion Mpetshi Perricard hit 11 aces, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to victory in their ATP Tour team debut.

The 79-minute win was Fils’ second victory of the day in Paris, where he earlier claimed a singles triumph against Jan-Lennard Struff. Mpetshi Perricard fell in the singles to Karen Khachanov, but picked himself up to claim just the second tour-level doubles match win of his career. Awaiting Fils and Mpetshi Perricard in the second round will be sixth seeds Wesley Koolhof and Nikola Mektic.

Also on Wednesday, Neal Skupski and Michael Venus bounced back from the disappointment of Vienna championship-match defeat with a 6-1, 6-0 victory against Jean-Julien Rojer and Joe Salisbury. Their next assignment in Paris is an encounter with the second-placed pair in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.

Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin were also first-round winners in the French capital. The Mexican-French duo overcame Argentines Francisco Cerundolo and Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-2, 5-7, 10-5. Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin now lead the two teams' Lexus ATP Head2Head series 2-0.

With his Wednesday win at the Rolex Paris Masters, Alexander Zverev became the fourth player to reach the last 16 at all nine ATP Masters 1000s in one season in series history. The third seed hit the milestone with a 7-6(2), 6-3 victory against Tallon Griekspoor in his opening match, his fifth consecutive Lexus ATP Head2Head win against the Dutchman and his fourth this season.

Zverev, who won his sixth ATP Masters 1000 title in Rome this May, is now 19-1 in opening matches on the year. The German fought off a break point in each of his first two service games against Griekspoor, and later fought off a set point on serve at 4-5, but hit his stride from there to pull away. Beginning with that set-point save, he won 16 straight points on serve to close out the opening set and start fast in the second.

"The last few matches that we played always went the distance, 7-6 in the fifth [at Roland Garros], 7-6 in the third [in Shanghai] as well," said Zverev, who has won six tie-breaks in his past five matches against Dutchman. "So I'm happy that it didn't go that far today. I felt for the first match it was pretty good from my end.

"Very fast court. I think one of the fastest courts I've ever played on. I had to find my rhythm in the beginning but happy to come through in the end," said the German, who will hope for more success in similar indoor conditions at the Nitto ATP Finals next month. "Once I find my rhythm I love fast courts because it fits my game."

Players to reach R16 at all 9 Masters 1000s

Arthur Fils is tapping into the currents in front of his home crowd at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The 20-year-old did not blink in a 6-3, 6-4 win over Jan-Lennard Struff on Wednesday to book his spot in the last-16 at an ATP Masters 1000 for the first time. Fils was clinical under pressure throughout the match, saving all break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I have practiced a lot to reach this level,” said Fils, who improved to 9-1 vs. Top 50 players since September. "I spend a lot of time on court, in the fitness room. We work so hard to manage to get a high level of play throughout a match. From a physical point of view, I need to have a high level, as well.

"It pays off. Even if it's the last tournament of the year. I'm tired, but this is where I feel best and I have to carry on like this."

Fils firing ?

Arthur Fils's recent run of form continues ?

The FH has always been big, but now he is landing it ?#TennisInsights | @atptour | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/fGhdfNckgp

Millions of children (and some parents!) across the globe will head ‘trick-or-treating’ on Thursday evening to celebrate Halloween. Hopefully they will have more luck than Matteo Berrettini did when the ATP Tour star was out hunting for candy as a child in his hometown of Rome.

“I lived in [an area] where it was safe for kids to go around and just bother people,” the Italian recalled to ATPTour.com. “One funny story. We had a bag full of candy and stuff, and we rang at a door. A lady opened it, and we said, ‘Trick or treat?’ She didn’t say anything, she just took something from our bag and closed the door. I don’t think she understood, it wasn’t us giving to her, but we were shocked.”

Berrettini remembers dressing up once as a ninja, and another time as a vampire in his bid to secure sweet treats from his neighbours. For the Italian’s ATP Tour rival Grigor Dimitrov, there was only ever one costume at the front of his mind.

“I grew up in the States. I think we were in California. I dressed as Batman, I’ve always liked Batman," said the Bulgarian. "I grew up in a very small town, only 2,000 people, so we had trick-or-treat and we could almost have literally gone to every door. I remember it well, it was a lot of fun.”

It’s spooky SZN, so you just know we had to get involved… ? pic.twitter.com/JubO6PAmP5

Football icon Diego Forlan was living a teenage dream in 1993 when he had the opportunity of a lifetime to play doubles with Argentine legend Diego Maradona. It was in the early stages of Forlan’s youth career, long before he became a superstar in his home country Uruguay and beyond.

More than 30 years later, that day remains a cherished memory for Forlan. He remembers that friendly match happened on Court No. 10 at the Carrasco Lawn Tennis Club in Montevideo. It is only fitting that the man who wore number 10 for Uruguay throughout his career will now compete at that same club during the Uruguay Open, an ATP Challenger Tour 100 event, which runs from 11-17 November.

“Imagine for me, to have the opportunity to be around [Maradona] and then the opportunity to play football and tennis — it was unbelievable,” Forlan recalled to a group of reporters. “We played football and we played doubles in tennis. We had a really good relationship. He was very competitive. It was a nice game.”

At the Uruguay Open, the 45-year-old Forlan will be playing doubles with an Argentine. Sound familiar? This time it will be Federico Coria, World No. 104 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Forlan and Coria have met just once, but this entertaining doubles pairing, which has captured the attention of football and tennis fans, is in part thanks to Uruguayan tennis player Ignacio Carou.

Andrey Rublev is set to make his debut at the Moselle Open in Metz next week. The No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings has taken a late entry to the indoor ATP 250, which takes place from 3-9 November.

We are delighted to announce the participation of @AndreyRublev97at the @moselleopen?? pic.twitter.com/ftf9QPg7lH

After falling to Francisco Cerundolo in his opener at the Rolex Paris Masters, Rublev is unable to amass further points this week in his bid to qualify for the eight-man Nitto ATP Finals (10-17 November).

The 27-year-old is currently eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, with 3,720 points, but could slip out of the cut this week. Alex de Minaur (ninth), Grigor Dimitrov (10th) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (12th) are all still alive in Paris and all could leapfrog Rublev in various scenarios.

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Grigor Dimitrov kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals with a thrilling comeback win on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The eighth seed dug deep to outlast Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the third round at the indoor ATP Masters 1000. Dimtrov saved all three break points faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats, in a gruelling two-hour, 45-minute victory.

Dimitrov is currently 10th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, trailing ninth-placed Alex de Minaur by 305 points. The 33-year-old could move inside the qualification spots with a run to the championship match in Paris. 

“It’s tough conditions, at the end of the year it’s very tricky,” said Dimitrov, who improved to 12-0 in opening rounds in Paris. “Everyone wants to empty their tank completely.

“He played an amazing first set. I'm far from the game I really want to play, but I'm adjusting. To win matches in that manner is way better for me than playing a clean match. I'm really happy with the fight. Of course, I really want to win every single match, but if I'm able to [show] that fight, I'm in a good place.

Grigor Dimitrov’s forehand is a cannon.

An ATP Infosys Beyond The Numbers analysis of TDI data of groundstroke speed, spin, and net clearance of the current Top 10 at ATP events over the past three years identifies that nobody blasts his forehand bigger than the 33-year-old Bulgarian.

Dimitrov’s career-high PIF ATP Ranking was No. 3 back in 2017. He started 2022 at No. 28 and has climbed back to No. 9, and ripping forehands has definitely helped pave the way back to the upper echelon of our sport.

The data set is also broken down by surface into the following four categories.
• Indoor hard
• Outdoor hard
• Clay
• Grass

The Top 10 average for forehand speed is 75 mph. Dimitrov is the only player in the data set to reach the 80 mph threshold on any surface. Below are the three players who reached the top two speeds.

Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev’s second-round exits at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday could have major implications on the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

In a back-and-forth battle with Jordan Thompson, Ruud fell to a 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 defeat, while Francisco Cerundolo defeated sixth seed Rublev 7-6(6), 7-6(5) to record his 100th tour-level win.

Ruud is currently seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin with 3,855 points. Eighth-placed Rublev trails the Norwegian by 135 points to close out the qualification spots.

However, both players are unable to secure further points at this week’s indoor ATP Masters 1000. Meanwhile, fellow Turin hopefuls Alex de Minaur (ninth), Grigor Dimitrov (10th), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (12th) are all still alive and could climb further.

De Minaur would surpass Rublev if he were to make the quarter-finals. If De Minaur and Tsitsipas met in the semi-finals in Paris, and Tsitsipas went on to win the title, then both players would leapfrog Rublev and Ruud.

Carlos Alcaraz kickstarted his campaign at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday by serving up some revenge. 

The second seed finished with a flourish to move past Nicolas Jarry 7-5, 6-1, improving to 13-2 in opening rounds in 2024. Alcaraz, who fell to the Chilean in the Buenos Aires semi-final in February, showcased his class on return to convert 80 per cent (4/5) of break points, according to Infosys ATP Stats. 

“I think I played really good tennis [in the first set], but at the end it was complicated,” said Alcaraz, who improved to 16-4 at ATP Masters 1000 events this season. “I’m just really happy to get through the opening set, it was really important for me to come into the second with more confidence. I [need] time to get used to the speed of the court.

“It’s been two years since I have won a match here in Paris-Bercy, so everytime that I keep going is a gift for me.”

He's HIM. ?@carlosalcaraz gets his campaign off to a winning start in Paris, defeating Jarry 7-5 6-1!#RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/rQUIBYfb4P

Alex de Minaur is showing no signs of backing down in the fight to qualify for his maiden appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals.

The ninth seed finished with a flourish on Tuesday to defeat Mariano Navone 7-5, 6-1 and advance to the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters. After a nervy end to the opening set, De Minaur pulled clear in a near-flawless second to seal an 89-minute victory.

Smooth sailing for Demon ⛵️

No. 9 seed @alexdeminaur will face lucky loser Kecmanovic in the second round in Bercy.#RolexParisMasters | @RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/mM8WvmG2i4

De Minaur’s standout season, during which he has won two ATP Tour titles and surged to a career-high of No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, could culminate in a debut appearance at the season-ending finale.

The Australian, who is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, has moved to within 125 points of eighth-placed Andrey Rublev with his opening-round win in Paris. De Minaur, who will surpass Rublev with a run to the quarter-finals, will next face lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic. 

Spaniard Martin Landaluce made his mark in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah nine days ago when he leaped to eighth after he won his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season in Italy.

The 18-year-old is on 348 points and now occupies the final qualification spot with six weeks to go until the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF. With the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah heating up and Landaluce not competing this week, the chasing pack will look to make their moves in the coming days at their respective Challenger Tour events.

PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah

Ninth-placed Coleman Wong (328 points), who became the first Hong Kong player since 1972 to win an ATP Tour match in September, earned a first-round victory at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Seoul on Tuesday and will eye a deep run to close the gap on Landaluce.

Lithuanian’s Vilius Gaubas (292 points) is 10th and is competing in Guayaquil. Gaubas, who has won a Challenger Tour crown in 2024, has not played since early October. Portugal’s Henrique Rocha (286 points) is 11th and also plays in Guayaquil, while 12th-placed American Nishesh Basavareddy (280) is in action on home soil in Charlottesville.