Still, Humbert had pushed Alcaraz to four sets on grass and set to work at closing the deal on the Spaniard in front of his home crowd, rallying from the second set to battle through a tense decider as night fell in Paris-Bercy.
With little to separate the two after 11 games, Humbert made his move on Alcaraz’s serve, opening up a 0-30 lead with a backhand passing shot and a double fault from his higher-ranked opposition.
A rowdy crowd looked to help Humbert over the finish line but required a chiding from the umpire as Alcaraz got on the board. The Frenchman recovered to earn two match points when Alcaraz erred long, and though Alcaraz saved one with an ace, Humbert outrallied his rival on the second to secure the biggest win of his career.
Up next for Humbert is Aussie Jordan Thompson, who backed up his win over No. 7 seed Casper Ruud by stopping French wild card Adrian Mannarino, 7-5, 7-6 (5) to reach his first Masters 1000 quarterfinal.
