Ugo Humbert stuns Alcaraz to reach the Quarterfinals in Paris

Ugo Humbert put on a show for the home crowd enroute to the biggest win of his career at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday.

The 26-year-old Frenchman and home favourite played an outstanding tennis tournament upset World no.2 Carlos Alcaraz in two-hour and 17 minutes on home soil to reach the quarter finals.

Ugo Humbert prevailed 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in a richly entertaining encounter to book his spot on the final eight at his home ATP Masters 1000.

With the win, Humbert has now recorded the joint-biggest victory of his career by ATP Ranking, equalling his victory against then-No. 2 Daniil Medvedev at the 2022 ATP Cup.

The lefty, who is chasing his third ATP Tour title of the season this week after his victories in Marseille and Dubai, is the first Frenchman to earn a Top 3 win at Paris-Bercy since 2010, when Gael Monfils defeated No. 2 Roger Federer and Michael Llodra ousted No. 3 Novak Djokovic.

Awaiting Humbert in the quarter-finals will be Jordan Thompson. The Australian earlier downed Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-6(5) to reach the last eight at a Masters 1000 for the first time.

Elsewhere, Alex de Minaur’s late charge to qualify for his maiden appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals is picking up serious pace at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The ninth seed rallied to defeat Jack Draper 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday, snapping the Briton’s seven-match winning streak. With the triumph, De Minaur climbed inside the qualification spots in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, passing Andrey Rublev to eighth.

De Minaur now trails sixth-placed Novak Djokovic by 165 points in the Live Race, with fellow Turin hopefuls Grigor Dimitrov (10th) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (11th) still alive in Paris. De Minaur could pass seventh-placed Casper Ruud and Djokovic to sixth if he advances to the semi-finals of the indoor ATP Masters 1000. He next faces will face Danish Holger Rune for a spot in the semi-finals.

Earlier, Alexander Zverev ended the run of French star Arthur Fils in front of an electric crowd at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday afternoon.

The German Zverev who was backed by the home support earned a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 third-round victory in the French capital. He will meet Nitto ATP Finals hopeful Stefanos Tsitsipas in the last eight.