First round: Humbert makes a winning return

Under Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon's eyes, Ugo Humbert made a winning return to the hard courts of the French capital. In a particularly inconsistent opening set, both he and Botic Van de Zandschulp struggled to hold serve, with each player being broken three times before the set was eventually decided in a tie-break (7-6(5) in 54 minutes).

The Frenchman needed just under an hour to find his feet on a court he had never played on before, having missed the 2025 edition through injury. The second set was far more balanced, with both players proving much more solid on serve during this opening night session of the 2026 tournament.

Once again, the set had to be settled in a tie-break. Humbert, who certainly needed far less time to feel at home inside the arena, missed two match points and saved two set points before eventually conceding the third (7-6(9) in 1 hour and 8 minutes).

Far from holding him back, losing the second set only seemed to spur him on. “Le Commandant” quickly rediscovered his rhythm and took control of the deciding set, helped by an outstanding serving performance (100% of points won behind his first serve and not a single break point faced). An early break put him firmly in command, allowing him to dictate the rallies before sealing victory with an ace on his third match point (7-6(5), 6-7(9), 6-3 in 2 hours and 38 minutes).

A few hours earlier on Monday, Karen Khachanov emerged victorious from his clash with Denis Shapovalov after the latter retired in the third set (6-3, 6-7(6), 4-1 ret. in 2 hours and 10 minutes).

To round off a packed schedule on Court 1, qualifier Alex Molcan and French wildcard Titouan Droguet contested the second-longest match of the day. The Slovak was not fazed by the Frenchman’s power on serve, despite Droguet firing 20 aces to his 2, and eventually prevailed in three sets after 2 hours and 14 minutes (4-6, 6-4, 6-4).

Molcan does not yet know the identity of his next opponent, but in two days’ time he could well face another crowd favourite at the Plenitude Arena. In the second round, he will meet the winner of the clash between qualifier Benjamin Bonzi and Taylor Fritz (No.11).

Earlier in the evening, Flavio Cobolli (No.5) was forced to withdraw from the tournament. He has been replaced in the draw by Thiago Agustin Tirante.

➡️ View the full draw for the 2026 Rolex Paris Masters