Under the palm trees, exactly. After his defeat in the second round of the Dubai tournament against Russian Andrey Rublev, Ugo Humbert joined the United States to compete in the “fifth Grand Slam”, the Indian Wells Masters 1000. In the Coachella Valley, the player from Metz benefited from the withdrawal of Dutch Griekspoor to be designated the 32nd seed and thus be exempt from the first round. A good thing before facing the winner of the match between a qualifier and American Alex Michelsen, ranked 44th in the world whom he has already beaten once, two years ago in Brisbane. His section of the draw, however, will not be easy as he could face a local player in Taylor Fritz, the 7th world ranked player and winner in California in 2022.
His return is getting closer. In Alicante for just over a week, at the academy of his coach Ruben Ramirez Hidalgo, Harold Mayot is starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel after a promising start to the season, with a semifinal in India, and frustrating at the same time, as his left wrist prevented him from performing at 100% of his abilities. It should soon be the case for the 24-year-old from Metz who has switched back to using a two-handed backhand and continues to train hard in Spain. His return is expected to be scheduled around mid-March, and although he was initially supposed to do so from Mexico, current tensions in the country linked to the disappearance of a major local drug lord have forced the organizers of the Merida tournament to cancel. As a result, the Lorrain could resume playing in Asia, most likely in Japan.
