On a level of his own, German player Alexander Zverev took the Accor Arena by storm, delivering a dominant performance to seal past 15th seed Ugo Humbert with a 6-2, 6-2 triumph in one hour and 15 minutes, claiming his maiden crown at the Rolex Paris Masters on Sunday.
During the trophy ceremony, he stated: “I knew I had to play like this to win today. Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does. I knew that, and once the crowd gets involved, it’s going to be difficult. So, I had to take that away, and I did. I’m happy about it.”
The 27-year-old, who leads for most wins on Tour this season (66), broke the Frenchman’s serve twice before pocketing the opening set 6-2, dropping a lone point behind his booming serve.
In control throughout the entire final, Zverev dictated play without hesitation, rock solid from the baseline, heavy hitting with his forehand.
His performance on the return made a huge difference, recording a return rate of 218 compared to his rival 30.
All in all, Zverev won 91 percent of the points on his first serve, converted 4 of 6 break point opportunities, and won 6 of 8 net approaches.
He flawlessly neutralized all efforts made by the 6-time ATP winner, who built a consistent campaign to the final, highlighted by the upset over Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz.
Addressing Humbert, the brand new champion said: “You are playing unbelievable tennis. I’m sure you’ll be able to lift trophies like this very soon.”
The first German player to capture the title since Boris Becker in 1992, completed a tennis display for the ages to emerge victorious, leaving his mark in the last edition of the Masters 1000 event in Paris-Bercy.
From next season, the tournament will move to La Defense Arena, a bigger stage for the prestigious venue.
After achieving his seventh Masters 1000 title, the Hamburg-born will return to be ranked at world No. 2 on Monday in the lead-up to the Nitto ATP Finals, held at Inalpi Arena in Turin from 10-17 November.
Zverev will join top seed Jannik Sinner, Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, making his sixth consecutive appearance, and Taylor Fritz, with three spots in singles remaining.