The figures are terrible, but they reflect the difficulty faced by Ugo Humbert at the start of the season. Three defeats in a row in the first round and more than one victory since his first match of the season. Because since this encouraging victory over Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Cup, Humbert has once again become a shadow of himself, as during the second half of last season.
Facing Cameron Norrie, the Frenchman had a good shot to play in this first round of the ATP 500 in Rotterdam. Certainly Norrie is ranked 13th in the world while Humbert is 41st. But the Briton is also in trouble and had not yet won a single game of the season when he arrived in Rotterdam. Ideal for reviving.
A disastrous first set
Except that in front of the empty stands of Rotterdam, Humbert failed to transcend himself. His first set was even catastrophic. With 15 fouls on the counter and only 47% of first serves, difficult to exist. If we add difficulties in returning the opposing service, it was too much…
Giving voice to encourage each other, visibly doing violence to move, the Messin started the second set much better. Finally, he broke his opponent and broke away, leading 4-2. But Norrie quickly recovered and Humbert was unable to prevent his return. Returning to 4-4, the Briton had done the hardest part and ended up coasting against a disillusioned opponent.