As the Indian Wells 2024 is in full swing, American favorite Tommy Paul will play Frenchman, Ugo Humbert. This would be the second major clash between the two players on American soil. It was at the Cincinnati Masters in 2023 and was much discussed about, even though eventually it was Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz who played the finals.
Humbert was an up-and-coming player, who reached the second round at Cincinnati 2023 after beating Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. Paul was the 14th-seeded player, who directly faced Humbert in the second round. During the match, Paul made sure that he edged out Humbert.
Tommy Paul won the first set in a convincing manner 6-1. But in the second set, Humbert showed some resistance. The second set went into a tie-break, but an in-form Tommy Paul was mentally up for the challenge and won the set 7-6 (7-4). A slew of double faults (6) and some other unforced errors, made it easier for Paul to clinch victory.
The match and the tournament were over for Ugo Humbert, but he has since come a long way in his career. He has caused many more upsets and is now a serious force to reckon with in the world of tennis.
Ugo Humbert makes a name for himself
Ever since Humbert’s 2023 Cincinnati Open defeat to Tommy Paul, he reached the semi-finals of the 2023 Swiss Indoors, where Hubert Hurkacz ended his journey. He beat American sensation Marcos Giron in the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters, and finally finished 2023 with an ATP title win at the Moselle Open, where he beat Alexander Shevchenko in the final 6-3, 6-3.
This was just the beginning of the rise of Ugo Humbert’s stardom. In 2024, Ugo Humbert won the Open 13 Provence in Marseille, taking his sweet revenge on Hurkacz in the semi-final. He truly became big after winning the Dubai Tennis Championships 2024, beating Alexander Bublik in the final.
As of now, Ugo Humbert is on Cloud 9, and his rise has been meteoric. With this kind of form, he will be facing Tommy Paul in the Round of 32 of the Indian Wells 2024 Masters event on Monday, March 11 at 3.15 PM ET.
