Humbert made it clear that he wasn’t happy playing on Court 1 on Wednesday while some of his lower-ranked compatriots were given Court Central billing. The world No. 18 said he was “disappointed” and “deserved better” after his second-round win over Marcos Giron.
And the 26-year-old wasn’t the only home favourite who took a swipe at organisers over the schedule. French veteran Adrian Mannarino also wasn’t best pleased when he was shunted to the smallest court for his match against lucky loser Zizou Bergs.
The world No. 58 said it was hard to “find his groove” on Court 2 after his victory on Wednesday. Mannarino was the last man to win a singles match on the small stage inside the Accor Arena, as it will be used for doubles for the rest of the week.
Next year, the tournament will move to a new venue in La Defense. But Mannarino didn’t care for the statistic of being the last singles winner on Court 2. “When I think about Bercy, I think about the centre court,” he stated.
“I don’t have a lot of good memories as a player or as a member of the public in Court 1 and Court 2, but when you play indoor tournaments, you often have big rooms with high ceilings with a lot of high stands. This court is very different to what we’re used to.
“Today I’m not going to say that it was a wonderful court because I won. When I arrived for the two first days and when I practised and so on, I’m delighted not to play on this court tomorrow, I have to say.”
The five-time title winner did get upgraded to Court Central on Thursday but he suffered a tight 7-5 7-6(5) defeat to Jordan Thompson.
While Humbert and Mannarino slammed organisers for putting them on the smaller courts, another Frenchman said he had no reason to complain when his match against former champion Holger Rune was put on Court 1.
Arthur Cazaux got into the main draw as a lucky loser when world No. 1 Jannik Sinner pulled out. The world No. 85 stunned top-20 star Ben Shelton on Court Central on Wednesday night.
But he was downgraded to the second stage in Thursday’s order of play. Cazaux took it in his stride, admitting other French players have earned the right to play in the main arena over himself.
The 22-year-old told L’Equipe: “There are Arthur Fils, Ugo Humberts who are still ranked higher than me so it’s normal that they have the Central. I’m only 80th in the world, I’m not going to complain. I want to go further and deserve the Central…”
While some French stars have complained about the programme, it’s a good problem for organisers to have. Last year, only one home player won a main draw match at the Paris Masters.
This time around, six Frenchmen appeared in the second round and five of them made it to the last 16. With more and more homegrown talent on display, not everyone can make it into the five-match line-up on centre court.
