WATCH: Humbert arrives without racquets, then beats no. 3 Ruud at Wimbledon

Thursday, 30 June 2022 at 06:30

Updated at Friday, 23 August 2024 at 17:01

ruud casper wimbledon2022 martinsidorjak

byNurein Ahmed

Ugo Humbert and Casper Ruud were forced to start their second-round match at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships almost two hours later than scheduled.

One of the reasons why their match was delayed was because of bad weather, with rain halting the start of play by almost two hours. Then, Ugo Humbert realized that he didn't have the most valuable items with him - his tennis rackets!

Therefore, Ruud was forced to wait for the Frenchman to pack his rackets. The delay in the start seemed to affect Humbert more, as he lost his very first service game of the match and then lost the first set 3-6.

But Humbert showed why he owns a winning head-to-head record over the Norwegian and dug deep to turn the match on its head. He knew Ruud was vulnerable outside clay and didn't regard grass as his favorite surface.

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The upset was very happening as Humbert fired 10 aces in the four-set comeback victory. He used his big serve to perfection, managing to land 67% of first serves and 56 of 78 points behind that first delivery.

Humbert saved five of nine break points and won over half of the return points on Ruud's serve. In two hours and 39 minutes, the French player defeated his Norwegian opponent 3-6, 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 and advanced to the third round of the 2022 Wimbledon.

He will be looking to replicate the result from his debut appearance in 2019 when he made the second week. After spending two seasons as a member of Top 50 and winning three ATP titles, the 2022 season is a huge disappointment for Humbert and so he will try to change that in SW19.

Humbert didn't have a great preparation for Wimbledon, winning just one match in three warm-up tournaments, but he'll fancy his chances against David Goffin in the third round.