Alexander Zverev routs Ugo Humbert to win Paris Masters, cements No. 2 status ahead of ATP Finals

No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev denied France's Ugo Humbert a storybook ending to his week at the Rolex Paris Masters on Sunday with a 6-2, 6-2 championship victory at the Accor Arena.

To claim his seventh career ATP Masters 1000 title, and first in Paris, Zverev was dominant in all facets of the one-hour and 15-minute match, in which he never faced a break point and lost just five points on serve overall.

Humbert, by contrast, struggled in his most prestigious career final: He was broken four times and racked up two dozen unforced errors. The 26-year-old had won his last 13 matches on French soil indoors, which included an upset of No. 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz earlier in the week. But he lost serve for the first time at 1-1 in the opening set, and never gained a foothold against an in-form Zverev.

“I knew I had to play like this to win today,” Zverev, who joined Boris Becker as German champions of the iconic event, said after the match.

“Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris, he plays even better than he usually does and I knew that. Once the crowd gets involved, it’s going to be difficult. I had to take that away early, and I did, so I’m happy about that.”

Zverev's win was also his 66th match victory of 2024, which puts him ahead of Jannik Sinner for most on the ATP tour. Having secured a return to the world No. 2 ranking for himself with his semifinal victory over Holger Rune, Zverev will enter the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin ahead of Alcaraz in the No. 2 spot by just over 500 points.

Humbert was bidding to become the first Frenchman to triumph at the tournament, which will move from its longtime home in Bercy next year to the suburbs, since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008.

"Ugo [is an] incredible player. All the hard work he’s doing off court, you can see it," Zverev said. "The results are there. I told you at the net that if you keep playing like this, this isn’t the last chance you’re gonna get. I’m sure he’ll be able to lift trophies like this very soon.”