Ugo Humbert shows respect for Jo-Wifried Tsonga after Marseille clash

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Rising French star Ugo Humbert acknowledged that it wasn't easy playing against fellow compatriot Jo-Wifried Tsonga in Marseille. Humbert, ranked at No. 31 in the world, handed a 6-3 6-4 loss to Tsonga to progress into the Marseille quarterfinal.

Humbert claimed the first break of the match in the sixth game, before serving out for the opener in the ninth game. In the second set, Humbert was down 4-3 before winning three games in a row to win the set and earn a straight-set win.

"It is not easy to play against Jo. It was a bit emotional today, but I tried to stay focussed on what I had to do,” Humbert said, per the ATP website. “I tried to put a lot of intensity [into my game] today and I’m very happy to win against Jo”.

Humbert through to his second Marseille quarterfinal

Humbert, who made the Marseille semifinal in 2019, plays next against either Alejandro Davidovich Fokina or Arthur Rinderknech. Meanwhile, Humbert's fellow compatriot Hugo Gaston wasn't that lucky in Marseille as he lost to rising Italian star Jannik Sinner.

Sinner, seeded at No. 5, handed a 6-4 6-1 loss to Gaston to progress into the Marseille quarterfinal. "There are some key points in every set, and when he came back [in the first set], I was just trying to stay there mentally,” Sinner said in his on-court interview.

“I think I did that, and I’m very proud of that. In the second set, I tried to start strong." After the match, Sinner insisted that Gaston wasn't an easy opponent. "He’s a very difficult player because he is always changing the ball a lot and changing the rhythm," Sinner said.

"I tried to play deep and play my game, but it’s never easy when someone hits quite hard. Matches can change very fast, so I tried to stay there in every point”.