After a pale ocher Roland-Garros, French tennis is counting on Wimbledon, which begins this Monday, to find a little color.
And since the start of the short grass season, there is a Habs for which all the lights are green.
Ugo Humbert, 23 since Saturday, won his first ATP 500 tournament a week ago in Halle.
If he has badly digested the transition with the grass of Mallorca, where he was the victim of food poisoning, the Messin comes to London with a good appetite. “Wimbledon is a goal,” he breathes. It's a tournament that I love. The world n ° 25 discovered the surface in 2019. And he quickly understood that it could be his garden ...
"He loved it as soon as he set foot on it," explains Thierry Ascione, director of the All In Académy, whom the Lorrainer joined last fall. He's a guy from the East, he grew up on a carpet
(Editor's note: on the courts of SMEC or ASPTT Metz)
. He always used to train on fast surfaces, with low rebounds, his physique and his technique make him comfortable. The grass requires serving well, being stable, having a clean technique to adapt to speed. In addition, he is left-handed. When you know how to play quickly, flat, early and serving well, it destabilizes a lot of players! "
🤩🇫🇷 Magnificent Ugo Humbert!
The Frenchman tames Andrey Rublev in the final to win the Halle tournament, his first ATP 500 title!
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Two years ago, Humbert left a good impression during his only participation in the London Major (the 2020 edition having been canceled due to Covid), where he reached his only round of 16 in the Grand Slam.
Victories against Monfils, by recovering a handicap of two sets before the abandonment of the Parisian in the 5th, Granollers and Auger-Aliassime then a predictable setback against the defending champion and world number one Novak Djokovic.
Kyrgios, a poisoned gift
“Ugo already has everything to play well 85% of the season, continues Ascione. He still has clay, that will come with work. He's making progress. What he was able to produce in Halle
(Editor's note: where he beat Zverev and Rublev)
, we do in one match, not five. If the classification had not been frozen, it would already be in the 20. ”The Albion was however a little treacherous with the French, who will inherit the whimsical and unpredictable Nick Kyrgios as soon as he enters the running.
In February, at home in Melbourne, the Australian won after a crazy match in an electric atmosphere after saving two match points.
At the end of the meeting, the executioner was full of praise for his evening victim.
"He's a hell of a player," he whispered.
I'm not used to finding my opponents too strong when I face them, but he is really good.
He's left-handed, he has good serve, he can hit all areas, serve outside on ties, the T on advantages, he has an incredible backhand, good forehand, good volley, he's also a good competitor and he is still young.
He's really a guy to watch, he will be very strong.
I hope he will recover from this loss, he just needs to hold his head up high and he will achieve great things.
"
Sheeeshhhh, Ugo not again mannnnnnn
- Nicholas Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios) June 25, 2021
Humbert, however, had some difficulty in taking it.
"This match hurt him a bit mentally," Ascione observes.
He had a hard time coping with the fact that he had an incredible match, that he lost it but that everyone told him it was great… ”If fate smiles at him this time, the Lorrainer might come across Tsonga, who took him under his wing.
"They exchange a lot," Ascione explains. Jo talks about what he's been through, wants to be useful, to share without giving a lesson. Ugo is passionate, he's still in the process of training and that's great for us. He wants to learn, he is hyper ambitious, it is just that ambition does not become bullshit, that is to say to respect the protocols on the physical and the mental, to pay attention to the environment. It's a treat to work with him. He is potentially very strong. The Ugo, it has something more… ”