First of the four French people to compete in the Newport grass tournament, Ugo Humbert, coached by Jérémy Chardy for the occasion, lost in the first round against Peter Gojowczyk.
As tradition dictates, the Newport tournament comes to close the grass season the week after Wimbledon, in this city of Rhode Island where the Tennis Hall of Fame is located. Four French people crossed the Atlantic, and while waiting for Benjamin Bonzi, Quentin Halys and Adrian Mannarino on Tuesday, it was Ugo Humbert who entered the running on Monday. Falling back to 129th place in the world after eleven very complicated last months (injury, bad reaction to the vaccine, covid, etc.), the Messin hopes to begin his rise in the rankings, he who spent two rounds at Wimbledon before being eliminated by David Goffin, and who left London without a single point, like everyone else.
But it went badly for the 24-year-old, who lost in straight sets against Peter Gojowczyk (91st), who had already beaten him at the last US Open. The German player won 7-5, 6-4 in 1h42. However, he committed 8 double faults and only served 49% of first serves, but Humbert did not take advantage of it. The first set started with two breaks on each side, and at 5-5 Gojowczyk scored a decisive third break. Even though the Frenchman got three balls from 6-6, he missed them and thus lost the set. In the second, Humbert missed a ball at 4-2, and it was ultimately him who lost his serve on the next game. Gojowczyk finally won on his fourth match point, and will challenge John Isner, four-time winner of the tournament (2011, 2012, 2017, 2019), in the next round.
With Chardy in the box
For this meeting, Ugo Humbert was coached by a certain Jérémy Chardy. The Messin had announced during Wimbledon that a second coach would join him, he who had been with Thierry Ascione until then. He has apparently set his sights on the 35-year-old from Pau, who has not played since the last US Open, due to problems with the vaccine, then a serious knee injury, which required surgery and which will keep him away from the courts until 2023. It remains to be seen whether this coaching experience will be long-term for Chardy, who we had already seen alongside Alexei Popyrin at the Bordeaux Challenger before Roland-Garros. In the meantime, Ugo Humbert will fall further in the standings after his poor result in Newport and should end up around 150th place next Monday. He will now return to Europe to play Challenger tournaments there. The ascent probably goes through there.
