Ugo Humbert latest withdrawal from Paris Masters as he suffers severe ranking drop

This time last year, Ugo Humbert was about to commence his Paris Masters campaign, in which he would reach the final in front of his home support. Ahead of the 2025 event, Humbert has announced that he will not be competing in the final Masters 1000 event of the year.

It is hugely disappointing for the Frenchman, who defeated Carlos Alcaraz enroute to a final showdown with Alexander Zverev, with the German conjuring up a brilliant final display to halt Humbert in his tracks. It was his maiden Masters 1000 final in a fantastic week. However, after a positive start to the European indoor hardcourt swing, injury in Stockholm has forced him to pull out of Paris in a frustrating turn of events which has seen him plummet down the rankings.

Injury has plagued many players at the end of this campaign. The likes of Jack Draper and Holger Rune have been forced to call an end to their season prematurely due to injuries, with the Dane possibly out till the 2026 US Open. For Humbert it is not as serious, but has come at a dreadful time.

After an uninspiring Asian swing, the 27-year-old had his sights firmly on more success indoors, with it being a setting that he thrives in. Out of the seven titles he has won, four of those came in tournaments played indoors. The first one came in 2020 when he won his second ATP title in the European Open with a straight sets victory over Alex de Minaur. Over three years later, he finally clinched more glory in the Moselle Open against Alexander Shevchenko before claiming a brace of Open 13 triumphs in Marseille in 2024 and 2025.

He was eyeing up a fifth indoors title and eighth ATP title in Stockholm, where he beat a pair of Italians in the form of Matteo Berrettini and Lorenzo Sonego before being sent through to the final after Rune's horrific achilles injury. He faced three-time Grand Slam finalist Casper Ruud in the final, with the Norwegian comfortably coming out on top. He would then traverse to Basel to compete in the Swiss Indoors, with a trio of Americans his victims in Switzerland. Without dropping a set, he bypassed Sebastian Korda, Taylor Fritz and Reilly Opelka. He faced Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the semi-finals but was forced to add his name to an elongated number of retirees when 7-6(4), 3-1 down, citing back issues. Two days later, and Humbert has withdrawn from his home event.

Heading into the Paris Masters, Humbert was defending 650 points from his final appearance the year before. Ahead of the tournament, those ranking points were docked from his tally, which has seen him drop 14 places down to world number 36, with potential to drop even further depending on other results. He was in need of a positive result to push him back up the rankings, but his absence prevents him from doing that. It also dents his hopes massively of being a seed for the Australian Open, possibly exposing him to a tougher opening round draw. This could be the first time since Wimbledon 2023 where he does not go seeded, in a huge blow.

Instead of competing, Humbert will be sitting on the sidelines watching on with the likes of Draper, Rune, Jakub Mensik, Tommy Paul and seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. His opening tie was supposed to be a rematch against Davidovich Fokina. The Spaniard will now face off against a different Frenchman in the form of Valentin Royer in his opening clash.