It hasn’t been the easiest season for Ugo Humbert, but he made it a lot better on Wednesday at Wimbledon. The Frenchman, who entered SW19 with a tour-level record of 5-15 in 2022, defeated third seed Casper Ruud 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 to reach the third round at The Championships for the second time.
Ruud is the highest seed to fall so far at the Grass Major. Humbert needed three hours and 28 minutes in five sets in the first round against Argentina’s Tomás Martín Etcheverry. The southpaw was rewarded for surviving that effort, as he broke Ruud’s serve six times and hit 53 winners in their two-hour, 36-minute triumph.
In the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals battle of alumni, Humbert got off to a slow start, firing 15 unforced errors as his opponent remained solid. But once the Frenchman controlled his game, he was able to rely on his great serve and his aggressive approach to get past Ruud.
Humbert has played well on grass before, reaching the fourth round at the All England Club in 2019 and lifting his first ATP 500 trophy last year in Halle. Ruud is now 3-5 on the surface. A year ago, Humbert was at No. 25 in the world, the highest of his career.
The 24-year-old is currently No. 125 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings. He will play Belgian David Goffin in the third round. The 2017 Nitto ATP Finals runner-up defeated 31st seed Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-2, 6-4 earlier in the day and has not dropped a set in two matches.
Roger Federer had two championship points against Novak Djokovic in the final at 8-7 but ended up losing in the deciding-set tie-break.
King Roger will play the Swiss Indoors
According to Christopher Clarey, Roger Federer believes he can win another Major after coming so close at the 2019 Wimbledon.
“When Roger was last healthy, he was only one point away from winning Wimbledon – one point! I think he expects to have another good chance. Sure, on paper it didn’t look bad in 2021, he was in the quarterfinals at the age of 39,” Clarey said.
Personally, I don’t think he’ll get any further than before, I think there are too many players in the way. But why should Roger think so?” Federer has confirmed his participation at the 2022 Laver Cup, which is scheduled to take place towards the end of September and at the Swiss Indoors in October.
