Ugo Humbert had more difficulty in carrying the heavy trophy of the Halle tournament than in controlling Andy Rublev, world number 7 and "Mr. ATP 500" 6-3, 7-6 (7/4) to conclude in style a dream week. Second Frenchman to win the title in Germany after Henri Leconte in 1993, the young Tricolore pinned to his hunting roster two members of the Top 10 (Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev) and a top 20 in shape on grass (Félix Auger-Aliassime) . Strong in key moments. Very solid. In Halle this week, on the road to his coronation, Messin thus won 5 of the 6 tie-breaks he played. “I had tough matches all week. It was tough mentally, with three matches concluded on tie-breaks. ”
Three finals contested and three titles
The French number two, who climbs from 31st to 25th place in the ATP ranking, offered himself at 23 his third trophy in three finals after Antwerp (indoors) and Auckland (outdoors) in 2020. The finals, he love it.
“I like it, it doesn't put pressure, I find it a good challenge every time. I believe in myself, I tell myself that I can do it. That I can play even better than the other days. It's more intense than in previous rounds. In the end, if you hang on, that's not enough
.
It is necessary to produce level. I know I have no choice. When you have no choice, you are in the action ”.
The grass, he loves it.
“Every time I play on grass it's fun. I really like
”.
"Wimbledon is a goal for me"
Ugo Humbert
And to think that he had never played a tournament on grass before the summer of 2019!
He had just walked in the grass Racing in training 2018. "
I discovered the grass tournament
s
heart Challenger in 2019
(Surbiton).
And I was like,
'This stuff is amazing!'
As soon as I do a strong cross backhand, it bursts, it's great ... I had lost my first match against Viktor Troicki, but I played well.
I learned to play on carpet, on rather low rebounds.
I like it
”.
His offensive temperament is more rewarded than on clay.
Forgotten the ocher and his six consecutive defeats in the first round (including one at Roland Garros), the best French player of his generation can see the future in green on his blessed grass.
The Mosellan will continue this week with the Mallorca tournament, before returning to Wimbledon, where he will be seeded.
He's not shy about it.
"Wimbledon is a goal for me"
“I really like this surface which corresponds well to my attacking game and my left-handed slice serve.
It's very fun.
"
Ugo Humbert
At 21 years and three weeks, the Messin had become in 2019 in London the youngest French to reach the eighth of the Grand Slam (defeat against Djokovic, Editor's note) since Richard Gasquet at the 2007 Australian Open (20 years and eight months ). "
I really like the grass, it calms me down
," he had slipped, before correcting in front of the audience, hilarious.
In Halle, he took another step forward in his career and offered a nice brightening up in the gray sky of French tennis, a week after the end of a calamitous fortnight at Roland Garros, where no French player had crossed the second singles round.