World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz was defeated by French star Ugo Humbert in the third round of the 2024 Paris Masters on Thursday.
Humbert, who is ranked 18th in the world, delighted the Parisian crowd with a stunning display of attacking tennis as he downed Alcaraz 6-1, 3-6, 7-5 in the third round.
The Frenchman raced to a 5-0 lead after just 18 minutes in a staggering start to the contest en route to taking the opening set.
Alcaraz responded strongly in the second set and broke Humbert for the only time to take a 4-2 lead as he forced a decider.
Humbert edged a high-quality third set to seal a huge victory when he converted his second match point with Alcaraz serving to stay alive at 5-6.
The 26-year-old's win was his 13th against an opponent ranked in the top 10 and his second against a world No 2. He holds an impressive 13-16 career record against top 10 players.
It was Humbert's first triumph against Alcaraz in his third meeting with the Spaniard and he labelled it the biggest win of his career in his post-match interview with Tennis TV.
Alcaraz's loss continues his struggles at the Paris Masters, with his win-loss record at the Masters 1000 event now standing at 5-4 (54%).
The four-time Grand Slam champion has lost before the quarter-finals in three of his four appearances in Paris Bercy.
The 21-year-old's exit means his wait to win a maiden indoor hard-court title goes on. Alcaraz has won multiple titles on clay, grass and outdoor hard courts, but he is yet to reach a final indoors.
The Spaniard does not play many indoor hard-court events - this was his first ATP tournament of the season on the surface.
It was a good opportunity for Alcaraz in the absence of Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic, who are both outstanding indoor players.
World No. 1 Sinner withdrew from Paris after the draw was made due to illness, while fourth-ranked Djokovic pulled out last week.
No. 4 seed Daniil Medvedev's second round loss Alexei Popyrin on Wednesday had cleared Alcaraz's path even further as the Russian was also in the bottom half of the draw. Medvedev was a champion at the Paris Masters in 2020 and finalist in 2021.
Alcaraz will next feature at the 2024 ATP Finals in Turin, which will run from November 10 to 17.
