FRENCHMAN Ugo Humbert is in the form of his life and now will face off for the chance to win his first ever ATP Masters 1000 final in his home nation. Winning his semi-final against the equally red-hot but clearly injured Karen Khachanov, Humbert advanced through to the Paris decider against German Alexander Zverev on Sunday.

It is unchartered waters for the talented, but inconsistent Humbert won came from a set down to win 6-7 6-4 6-3 in front of a raucous home crowd on Court Central. The win denied a sore Khachanov a third straight ATP Tour final, having won in Almaty, reached the Vienna decider and then got all the way to the Paris semi-finals, chalking up 12 wins in his past 13 matches.

Despite his form, Humbert – who claimed a massive scalp over second seed Carlos Alcaraz in one of the matches of the year earlier in the tournament – proved too good and rode the wave of emotion into the final.

“It is amazing to do it in Paris at my favourite tournament. It is a dream,” Humbert said post-match. “It was a little bit difficult compared to the previous matches. I felt a little more pressure and after the loss of the first set I tried to enjoy the moment and be with the crowd. I did very well and I am super proud.”

Humbert served two less aces than Khachanov (9-11), but won a higher percentage of first serve (69 to 68 per cent) and second serve (55 to 40 per cent) points, while converting five breaks to two with six more opportunities along the way.

It has been 13 years since a Frenchman made the Paris final, with Humbert following in the footsteps of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who lost to Roger Federer in the 2011 Paris Masters final. Tsonga was also the last Frenchman to win it, back in 2008.

After losing his first – and only – ATP Tour final to compatriot Arthur Fils in Tokyo last month and being denied the first ever player to win his first seven ATP Tour deciders, Humbert will refocus to try and knock off third seed Zverev to win his seventh trophy, and first ATP Masters 1000 title.

While the year comes to an end for Khachanov, he finished with a strong 37-22 record and won ATP Tour titles in Doha and Almaty, with some huge performances in the backend of the season. The Russian is currently 19th in the world opting not to play either of the ATP 250 tournaments in Metz or Belgrade next week.

In the other semi-final, Zverev – who has moved back up to world number two overtaking Alcaraz – defeated Danish talent Holger Rune in straight sets, 6-3 7-6. While Rune can no longer make the ATP Finals in Turin, he capped off his year by making the final four in Paris.

The German proved too good however, getting up in the straight sets to try and win his first hardcourt title above 250 level since his breakout 2021 season. Thanks to a win on his best clay surface at Rome, Zverev was able to take out his sixth 1000 level title, and will head to Turin hoping to repeat the feat of his 2018-winning performance at the ATP Finals.