PARIS (AP) — Alexander Zverev comfortably beat Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-2, 6-2 to win the Paris Masters on Sunday.

Third seed Zverev was in complete control of the final and claimed his seventh Masters 1000 title, his first in the French capital. With this victory he also overtook leader Jannik Sinner, who had the most wins on the ATP tour this year with 66.

It didn’t take long for Zverev’s great serve, excellent returns and great attacking shots to dash the partisan crowd’s hopes as Humbert never got into the game.

“I knew I had to play like that today to win,” said Zverev. “Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris he is playing even better than usual and I knew that.” As soon as the crowd joins in, it becomes difficult. So I had to take that away early, and I did, so I’m glad I did.”

Humbert, who knocked out Carlos Alcaraz in the third round, will not have fond memories of his first Masters final. He tried to play aggressively from the start and take all risks to shorten rallies. But he couldn’t find his range while Zverev defended extremely well.

The German quickly broke his rival’s serve and had his first break chance in the third game. He took it when Humbert sent a forehand into the net.

Humbert continued to make unforced errors. Trailing 3-1, he saved two break points but dropped serve again when another one-stroke forehand sealed the game.

Zverev dropped just one point on his serve in the opening set and sealed the serve with an ace.

Humbert, seeded 15th, went back to the locker room after the first set. The interlude didn’t change anything.

The Frenchman double-faulted on his return to the court, continued to make poor tactical decisions and was immediately thwarted with a forehand into the net. Another break gave Zverev a 3-0 lead, while Humbert squandered a 40-0 lead and was unable to mount a comeback.

Zverev improved to 23-13 in the Tour final and became the second German player after Boris Becker to win in Paris. He will overtake Alcaraz and move into second place in the new ATP rankings and will be a top contender at the ATP Finals, where the season’s top eight players meet in Turin, Italy, November 10-17.

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AP Tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis