Alexander Zverev makes short work of Ugo Humbert to win the Paris Masters

The match was not close from the beginning. It shouldn't have been. Ugo Humbert is a good player, and was playing in front of his home crowd at the Paris Masters. But Alexander Zverev is a great player, and playing some of his best tennis in 2024. The German dominated the Paris Masters final in straight sets 6-2 6-2.

This was the case even though Zverev was not serving as well as normal. He is one of the better players on the ATP in landing his first serve, but through the first part of the second set, he was landing just a bit over 50 percent of those serves (he finished with a flourish, though, and landed 60 percent for the match).

Humbert helped him, however, as the Frenchman was nowhere close to that number for most of the match. He also was chipping in with several double faults.

Alexander Zverev takes home the trophy at the 2024 Paris Masters

As good as Zverev is, a better player than Humbert likely would have made the match much tighter and could have potentially beaten the German. Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, for instance, would have made Zverev pay for being less efficient with first serve. Zverev did not have to worry about that, though. Humbert does not have the elite-level skills of Sinner or Alcaraz.

Humbert also struggled with consistency. He had far more unforced errors than winners, while Zverev chose to be more patient with his shots. He understood he was better than Humbert and simply did not need to beat himself. Humbert simply kept getting in his own way.

With the victory at the Paris Masters, Zverev will be safely in the No. 2 spot in the ATP rankings. He is 505 points clear of No. 3 Alcaraz, though the German is nowhere near the top-ranked Sinner in terms of points. Zverev should also be the second-seed at the ATP Finals that will be held next week.

The next step for the German would be to win a Grand Slam. He has made two finals (the US Open in 2020 and the French Open this year), but to separate himself from others in his same age group, such as Stefanos Tsitsipas, and cement his spot as one of the better players of his generation, Zverev needs to win a major. He will have a good chance to win the ATP Finals, though, in his current form.

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