Ugo Humbert continues his fall surge, as Stefanos Tsitsipas tries to snap out of a two-month slump

The loudest voices during the last match on Shanghai’s center court on Tuesday came from the two players on court, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Ugo Humbert. With only a few hundred fans left in the stands, it felt like the Greek and the Frenchman had the place largely to themselves. So they didn’t hesitate to talk, shout, scream, complain and gesture in the directions of their respective coaches after virtually every point.

Humbert was especially vocal and aggressive. The 25-year-old hasn’t had an especially notable year—he came to Shanghai with a 22-20 record in 2023—but he has shown signs of life so far in China. Last week in Beijing, he beat Lorenzo Sonego and Andrey Rublev, and he took a set from Daniil Medvedev. And in his match with Tsitsipas, he grabbed the initiative and hit a heavier ball than his opponent in the early going.

While Humbert is having a modest surge, Tsitsipas came to Shanghai looking to end a two-month slump. Since winning a title in Los Cabos in early August, he was just 3-4. During that period, he replaced one coach, his father Apostolos, with another, Mark Philippoussis, only to turn around after the US Open and re-replace Philippoussis with Apostolos. The father spent a good portion of this match urging his son to “take your time,” “focus, focus,” and “let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.” Maybe he saves his more original advice for when he’s speaking Greek.

Humbert won the first set, and Tsitsipas bounced back to win the second. Humbert went up an early break, 3-0 and 4-1, in the third, but again Tsitsipas dug down and found an answer. He broke for 3-4, held at love for 4-4, and pushed Humbert to deuce in the next game, with a delicate drop volley that had every fan left in the building oohing and aahing in appreciation.

Tsitsipas was two points from serving for the match, but it turned out to be the high-water mark of his comeback. If he was the guy with better touch and more variety, Humbert was the guy whose game was clicking when it mattered. With Tsitsipas serving at 5-6, Humbert hit an inside-out forehand winner; a backhand pass on the run; and, on match point, another running backhand that clipped the baseline.

“It’s a big win for me,” Humbert said after his 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory. “I tried to move a little bit on the returns in the last few games, and I’m proud I did it.”

It was a big win, but probably not a shock. Humbert improved his record to 3-1 against Tsitsipas, and improved his career record against Top 10 players to a more-than-respectable 9-9. Humbert can beat the big guys; now he just needs to win the matches he’s supposed to win. He’ll have another one of those in the next round, against American J.J. Wolf.