Rolex Paris Masters: This is just the beginning for Zverev

Of course, he was focused on nothing but the ball in front of him as he brushed aside Ugo Humbert 6-2, 6-2 to win his first Rolex Paris Masters trophy. He was ruthless and he was brilliant. He had been like that for most of the week. In fact, he had been like that for much of the year.

But he let slip during his stay in Paris that what he is working on now, the extra practice sessions after his matches (even after the final), is not to reap rewards today but, rather, to be ready for next season. He is looking towards Australia and beyond.

The aim is not specific other than to improve. He is good now but he still has not won a Grand Slam title and it is Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, two much younger men, who are collecting those trophies with alarming regularity.

By beating Humbert, Zverev won his 66th match of the season, more than anyone else (Sinner has won 65) with the ATP Tour Finals in Turin still to come. A win there would be a perfect end to a very good season. But it is still not enough.

“I'm happy with the final,” he said. “I'm happy with the tournament. Of course I'm sitting here with the trophy from a Masters 1000 event, but there are still some things I want to improve, and this is a process of a few months, and I'm improving for next year already hopefully.”

The comeback king

In 2022, Zverev felt that he was ready to make his final breakthrough and win a Grand Slam: he had been in the US Open final two years before but he was not able to lift the trophy. Two years ago, he felt ready and had it not been for that horrific, season-ending ankle injury in the Roland-Garros semi-final against Rafa Nadal, he might just have reached his goal. This year, for the first time since then, he felt ready to compete at that level again.

“It was not 100 per cent guaranteed that I would be back at this level after Roland-Garros two years ago,” he said, “when I basically broke everything possible in my ankle. So, to win this title here in Paris means the world to me, and I’m sure it means everything to those in my box, because they have done so much for me.”

That he could not get past Alcaraz in the Roland-Garros final this past summer was not a crushing disappointment but, rather, a motivation to work even harder. He knows better than anyone that the Spaniard and Sinner, aged 21 and 23 respectively, will only get better while he, at 27, has less time to win one of those elusive major titles.

Yes, he has won more matches than Sinner but Sinner has won more of the matches that matter. Zverev has two Masters 1000 titles to show for his efforts this season; Sinner is the world No.1 and has seven titles, three of them Masters 1000s and two of them Grand Slams. Zverev wants some of that; that is where he wants to be.

“I think now when everybody is playing and everybody is playing at full strength and everybody is healthy, you have to win Grand Slams to become world No.1,” he said. “I'm world No.2 now, but I'm 3,000 points away from Jannik, more or less, maybe more even.

“I think without the Grand Slams and without the points of the Grand Slams, it's not possible anymore.”

Humbert takes heart

For Ugo Humbert, the final was grim. Still tired from the mental and physical exertions of his three-set win over Karen Khachanov the day before, he felt tired from the warm up. He fought as hard as he could but from the first few games, he knew he was running uphill against a man in peak form.

“I was tired but I accepted that it was the way it was,” he said. “Mentally, I also felt that I was less composed. As for him, his serve was amazing during the first set. I had no free points during the second set. Also, his forehand: I thought that I could try to get something, but he gave me nothing. The only point I could get is when he had a crosscourt backhand. Otherwise nothing.

“It was difficult to outpace him. He got the most out of me. I tried to do my utmost. It was tough, but that's the way it is.”

Yet Humbert had a sensational run at his favourite tournament. And he had beaten Alcaraz in the process. The crowd loved him and he loved them. Even if he could not claim the title in last Rolex Paris Masters at the Accor Arena, he had waved farewell to the 39 years of history at the old stadium with true French flair.

“I'm not surprised that I reached that level, that I beat Alcaraz, to have reached the finals of a Masters 1000 tournament,” he said. “I'm working hard. I have a great team around me to help me and guide me.

So, all in all, I'm glad that it paid off this week, but I'm not surprised to have reached that level.

“This tournament is amazing. The history, the track record of this tournament, with all the players who won this tournament, it's crazy.

I would have liked to etch my name on the trophy, but I did my utmost.

“I wanted to live this tournament intensively. This is what happened.

Every match was riveting. I'm delighted that I could go through this experience with my team, my family, my friends, and the French public.”

And as Zverev told Humbert at the net as they shook hands: “Keep playing like this and you’ll have many more chances to win one of these titles.”

What Zverev didn’t tell him was that he now feels he is ready to win many more of them, too. This, he feels, is only the beginning.