At the age of 26, Ugo Humbert has always been somewhat of a confusing quantity. His lefty serve is awkward to return, his forehand angles are a sight to behold, his arrow-like backhands leave opponents scrambling, yet he had never truly been a factor at the elite end of the sport.
Heading into 2024, he had made just one Masters quarter-final in 25 career attempts. On the Grand Slam stage, he had made it past the third round just once. In many ways, he was an example of why the eye test isn’t always so reliable in this wonderful sport.
While this season he would fail to triumph over his Grand Slam woes, on the tour he showed considerable progress and reached as high as #13 in the world. Moreover, with such a strong end to the season, we are left anticipating his return in 2025.
Ugo Humbert: 2024 in Review
Shining in front of the Marseille Crowd
After falling to Hubert Hurcakz in the third round of the Australian Open, Humbert arrived in Marseille eager to make amends. In front of a home crowd, on an indoor hard court, the stage was set.
Firstly he had to overcome Hugo Gaston. After losing an underwhelming first set, he rallied back to win the next two with ease. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina was next in line, meanwhile progression past the Spaniard set up a rematch with Hurcakz. Revenge was sweet and only an in-form Grigor Dimitrov awaited.
You could have forgiven Humbert if the weight of expectation in front of a rowdy crowd had proved overwhelming, yet instead, he produced a performance of maturity and composure to secure his first title of the season. 6-4 6-3 with little jeopardy present, come the end he was ecstatic.
A Second ATP 500 Title
A few weeks later he turned up at Dubai looking to continue the positive momentum. Except, this was a step up in quality, and his game would need to follow.
Veterans Gael Monfils and Andy Murray were swatted aside in the early rounds, leaving yet another meeting with, you guessed it, Hubert Hurcakz. Yet again, it was a thrilling match leaving onlookers glued to their seats. After losing the first set 6-3, the soon to be champion bettered the Pole in a tiebreak and reflected the same score line back in the decider.
After a grueling narrow victory, hard court specialist and former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev awaited in a semi final. While one man owned a grand slam on the surface and five other finals, you wouldn’t have known on that day that it was the Russian.
Even more stark was the fact that Humbert out rallied him for large periods in a 7-5 6-3 win. By the time Alexander Bublik rolled around the corner there was only ever going to be one winner. Humbert was playing at a much higher level and this showed in his 6-4 6-3 win.
Tokyo and Paris Exploits
The rest of the season would be a bit more of a mixed bag, until he travelled to Tokyo. In conditions similar to Dubai, he brought the heat once more. He progressed through the first three rounds without losing a set to face Thomas Machac.
The Czech was in terrific form, and from a shot-making point of view was as good as anyone at that point in time. Progressing after three sets, he met Arthur Fils in the final.
The fellow Frenchman would prove too strong, but Humbert played his part in what was a truly magnificent match.
In Paris, just like Marseille, he rose to the occasion indoors in front of his own crowd. So much so that it irked the likes of Karen Khachanov who claimed he had “no idea how to behave”.
It also seemed he had no idea how to lose–that was until he reached Alexander Zverev.
In his run to the final, the standout was his three sets win over Carlos Alcaraz. The explosivity was eye-watering while the entertainment factor was present. In many ways it felt like a throwback to the home and away Davis Cup ties.
Zverev would prove much too strong, but it still went down as such a postive week for the twenty-six year old.
What This Means
No one can truly know if this year will satisfy Humbert, as there were disappointing elements there as well, such as the inability to break the cycle of disappointing Grand Slams.
However, in terms of progress, 2024 has saw just that. He holds a different place in the tennis world in comparison with twelve months ago.
The next step is to convert these one-off weeks into more frequent events. Consistency is key, time will tell whether he manages such a task.
Main Photo Credit: Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports
