Ugo Humbert voices disappointment after Paris Masters Center Court snub

Ugo Humbert criticized the Paris Masters organizers for excluding him from Center Court in the schedule. French No. 1 Ugo Humbert was relegated to Court 1 for his second-round match against Marcos Giron, where he secured an easy win, 6-3, 6-2.

However, some of his lower-ranked compatriots were scheduled on Centre Court, including Arthur Fils (No. 20) against Jan-Lennard Struff and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (No. 31) against Karen Khachanov.

Despite the strong lineup of local players with three French players in the top 31, and other experienced players like Adrian Mannarino and Arthur Rinderknech, the organization couldn’t accommodate all the home stars on Centre Court.

The 26-year-old went on to criticize the scheduling after being sidelined to the tournament’s second-most important court, saying: "I was disappointed, because I think I deserved better. I'm No. 1 French player, and I have practiced on the Centre Court."

"It was a very good match on my side. The court was smaller. It was faster," Humbert said after dispatching Giron in under an hour. "It's my favourite tournament. I was disappointed that I was not on Centre Court. But I have earned the chance to play in the third round,” he added.

Humbert will now face World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz and hopes for a great match this time, indeed on Centre Court: "I'm delighted to have won this match, to have earned the chance to play on Centre Court against Alcaraz."

Humbert was the only French player assigned to Court 1, but he nonetheless praised his fellow French players for their recent performances: "It's amazing. It's great for French tennis. There are a lot of French players performing well here. It's important for the fans, too, and I can say it’s all positive things," he said.

"I'm not surprised. We have wonderful French players, so I'm not surprised to see so many French players making it to the third round,” he added.