Humbert: "Happy to have given the fans victory. My most beautiful moment on court".

Ugo Humbert claimed the "most beautiful victory" of his career this Wednesday in Paris. The Frenchman outplayed Carlos Alcaraz, producing some exceptional tennis, to win in over two hours (6-1, 3-6, 7-5) in the last 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters.

He was understandably delighted with his performance after the match.

Ugo Humbert: "This is the greatest victory of my career, and the most beautiful moment I've ever experienced on a tennis court. That's why I train.

That's what I told myself in the third set. I didn't want a repeat of what happened last year. I also thought about the match against Zverev, and that made me stronger.

Before the match, Jérémy (Chardy, his coach) said to me: 'Don't do what you did in the Davis Cup (6-3, 6-3 defeat by Alcaraz in September). Don't try to play to excess, to overplay'. So when I started, I was very aggressive.

As for my return of serve, from the second set onwards, I started missing points and he played better. I think I fought too hard in the first set. Then I fought again from the start of the third set.

Throughout the third set, I was talking to myself. I kept talking to myself to tell myself that I was there, that I wasn't going to give up until the end, and it worked. I felt better, that's how I felt, and it was the right thing to do.

This is my game. I play well on this surface. I hit very fast from both sides. I don't think he's the only one who feels that when he plays against me.

But I had a great match and I love playing against the best players in the world. That's why I train, and the Paris-Bercy Masters is one of my favorite tournaments."