Ranking Reaction: Humbert breaks Top 30, Medvedev bumps Federer down

Ugo Humbert’s breakthrough season continued at the Paris Masters this past week, as he reached the first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal of his career. By doing so, the 22-year-old Frenchman reached a new rankings milestone, rising from No. 34 to No. 30 to make his Top 30 debut.

En route to the last eight in Paris, Humbert pulled off the upset of the tournament, outlasting No. 6-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in the second round, 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3). It was the second Top 10 win of his career, having beaten a No. 5-ranked Daniil Medvedev in Hamburg in September.

“Physically, I’m dead,” Humbert joked afterwards. “But I’m super happy, super proud of myself. I was mentally very strong to win this match against Tsitsipas, one of the best players in the world.

“Yeah, I don’t know what happened, but I’m super, super happy.”

After a third-round win over Marin Cilic, Humbert barely lost to Milos Raonic in the quarterfinals, holding two match points in the third set but ultimately falling to the Canadian, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7).

Despite the loss, he’s had a fantastic last few weeks, winning his second ATP title of the year (and of his career) in Antwerp.

“I try to put all the energy I can into each match, but I think mentally I’ve been very strong in the last month, and I can win matches in three sets,” Humbert said. “I think I’m better in the key moments.”

He’s the third-highest-ranked Frenchman after No. 11 Gael Monfils and No. 28 Benoit Paire.

Humbert wasn’t the only big mover of the week—Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Marcos Giron both set new career-highs after coming through qualifying and reaching the third round in Paris. Davidovich Fokina rose from No. 63 to No. 52, while Giron rose from No. 91 to No. 72. Last week, Davidovich Fokina beat No. 19 Karen Khachanov en route for his second career Top 20 win, while Giron upset No. 10 Matteo Berrettini en route for his first career Top 10 win.

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Meanwhile, the man who would go on to win the Paris Masters title, Medvedev, rose from No. 5 back to his career-high of No. 4 after picking up his third career Masters 1000 crown in the French capital.

“I was playing really good in this tournament, especially today,” said Medvedev after beating Alexander Zverev in the final, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. “After the first set I could have given up because Sascha was serving well and playing well, but I just stayed there, and at one moment I raised my level higher and higher and started to put pressure on him, and it worked. It broke his level a little bit.”

Medvedev’s move bumped Roger Federer from No. 4 to No. 5, his first time being ranked outside the Top 4 since the Miami fortnight in March 2019. The Swiss has only played two events over the last 12 months: the 2019 ATP Finals (reaching the semis) and the 2020 Australian Open (reaching the semis).