Paris Masters: Alexander Zverev will face Ugo Humbert in the final

Home favorite Ugo Humbert came from behind to book a place against Germany’s Alexander Zverev in the final of the Paris Masters.

Both beat former Paris champions on Saturday to reach their fourth ATP final this year, with world number three Zverev having lost the French Open final to Carlos Alcaraz in June.

Humbert, the French number one, beat Karen Khachanov 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-3 after Zverev produced a superb performance to outclass world number 13 Holger Rune 6-3 7-6 (7-4).

Humbert twice lost serve in the opening set, but each time the world number 18 responded immediately to break back, only for Russia’s Khachanov to win it in a tie-break.

Khachanov, the world number 21, forced a break point in the second set and was unable to take it as Humbert improved on his first serve and used powerful groundstrokes to take charge, hitting 13 winners to level the match.

The 26-year-old carried that approach to the decider and was even more dominant as he broke twice to claim victory.

Earlier, persistent pressure from the baseline helped Zverev grab an early break for a 3-1 lead, but the German had to work much harder in the fifth game before unleashing a pair of booming serves to consolidate it .

The Roland Garros runner-up, 27, shrugged off a late double fault to wrap up the opening set on the back of 11 winners at a packed Palais Omnisports in Bercy.

A closer second set ensued as Rune upped the aggression at times by serving and volleying at times, but Zverev took control in the tie-break by racing ahead 3-0 and held his nerve from there to claim a career-high 65th win of the season.