Zverev outclasses Humbert in final
Third seed Alexander Zverev eased past home favourite Ugo Humbert 6-2 6-2 in the Paris Masters final and will return to his career-high No. 2 in the world rankings.
German Zverev will leapfrog Carlos Alcaraz in Monday’s official rankings for the first time since suffering a serious injury at the 2022 French Open.
“That was a performance to match the occasion,” Zverev said. “It was pretty good I have to say. I knew I had to play like this to win. Ugo is an incredible player. Plus him playing in Paris, I think he played even better than he usually does. I knew that once the crowd gets involved it would be very, very difficult. I had to take that away early. I did that and I’m happy about it.”
The Roland Garros runner-up broke first as he took the opener helped by a number of unforced errors by Humbert. His performance was just as powerful in the second set as the 27-year-old went on to win the Paris Masters for the first time. “I want to thank my team. The work we’ve done over the past two and a half years to be back in this position, everyone had to sacrifice so much,” Zverev said. “There was never a 100% guarantee that I’d be back at this level after Roland Garros two years ago when I basically broke everything in my ankle that’s possible. To win the title means the world to me,” he added.
Swiatek made to fight in WTA Finals opener
RIYADH: Iga Swiatek looked rusty on her return after two months out but the world No. 2 rallied for a 4-6 7-5 6-2 win over Barbora Krejcikova to kick-start her WTA Finals title defence. Poland’s Swiatek lost in the US Open quarterfinals in September and was leapfrogged in the world rankings by Aryna Sabalenka after opting to skip the WTA Tour’s Asian swing due to fatigue. She will need to retain the trophy after winning at least two round-robin matches to have any chance of finishing as year-end world No. 1.
