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Zverev Dispatches Humbert in Straight Sets to Win Paris Masters

Germany's Alexander Zverev poses with the trophy after winning the men's singles final match on day seven of the Paris ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament at the Accor Arena - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy - in Paris on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
Germany's Alexander Zverev poses with the trophy after winning the men's singles final match on day seven of the Paris ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament at the Accor Arena - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy - in Paris on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
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Zverev Dispatches Humbert in Straight Sets to Win Paris Masters

Germany's Alexander Zverev poses with the trophy after winning the men's singles final match on day seven of the Paris ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament at the Accor Arena - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy - in Paris on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)
Germany's Alexander Zverev poses with the trophy after winning the men's singles final match on day seven of the Paris ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament at the Accor Arena - Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy - in Paris on November 3, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar DILKOFF / AFP)

Alexander Zverev was imperious in dispatching Frenchman Ugo Humbert 6-2, 6-2 to win the Paris Masters on Sunday.
The third-seeded Zverev was in total control of the final to earn his seventh Masters 1000 title, his first in the French capital. The win at the indoor tournament also moved him past top-ranked Jannik Sinner for the most wins on the ATP tour this year, at 66.
Zverev's big serve, excellent returns and precise attacking shots did not take long to extinguish the hopes of the partisan crowd as Humbert never got into the match.
“I knew I had to play like this to win today,” Zverev said. “Ugo is an incredible player, but here in Paris he plays even better than he usually does and I knew that. Once the crowd gets involved, it’s going to be difficult. So I had to take that away early, and I did, so I’m happy about that.”
Humbert, who knocked out Carlos Alcaraz in the third round, won't have fond memories of his first Masters final. He tried to play aggressively from the start and to take all the risks to shorten rallies. But he could not find his range while Zverev defended extremely well.
The German quickly solved 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 his serve again when another shanked forehand sealed the game.
Zverev dropped just one point on his serve in the opening set and sealed it at love with an ace.
The 15th-seeded Humbert walked 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 broken with a forehand into the net. Another break gave Zverev a 3-0 lead as Humbert wasted a 40-0 lead and was never able to stage a comeback.
“I’m extremely happy to have played in this final,” said Humbert, looking at the bright side of his Parisian week. “To have my family and team with me the whole week has been incredible. It’s for moments like this why I do this every day, why I train.”
Zverev improved to 23-13 in tour finals and became the second German player to win in Paris after Boris Becker. He will overtake Alcaraz to move into second place in the new ATP rankings and will be a top contender at the ATP Finals gathering the top eight players of the season from Nov. 10-17 in Turin, Italy.
The Paris Masters will relocate to another venue next year, moving from its historic location at the Palais Omnisports to La Défense Arena.

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5 Women Rejoin Iranian Soccer Squad in Malaysia after Abandoning Australia Asylum

Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
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5 Women Rejoin Iranian Soccer Squad in Malaysia after Abandoning Australia Asylum

Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
Members of Iran's women's football team arrive at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang on March 16, 2026, after staying in a hotel in the Malaysian capital while awaiting the next leg of their journey home. (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP)

The Iranian women’s soccer team had yet to reveal plans to leave Malaysia after most of the seven squad members who created a diplomatic furor by accepting asylum in Australia a week ago have rejoined their teammates in Kuala Lumpur, a sport official said Monday.

The squad flew from Sydney on March 10 after being knocked out of the Women’s Asian Cup in Australia, leaving behind six players and a support staff member who had accepted protection visas.

Four players and the staffer have since rejoined the team in Kuala Lumpur, the latest flying in on Monday. No reasons have been given for the changes of heart, but the Iranian diaspora in Australia blames pressure from Tehran, The Associated Press reported.

The team is being supported in Kuala Lumpur by the Asian Football Confederation. The confederation’s general secretary, Windsor Paul John, said the team was waiting in Malaysia's largest city to make flight connections to their war-torn homeland.

“It could be today, tomorrow or next week,” Windsor told reporters in Kuala Lumpur. “We are just waiting for them to tell us their plans.”

Windsor said his confederation had not received any direct complaints from players about returning home, despite media reports their families in Iran could face retaliation for the team failing to sing their national anthem before the opening match.

“We couldn’t verify anything. We asked them and they said, ‘No, it’s ok,’” he said. “They are actually in high spirits... they didn’t look afraid.”

Iranian authorities have welcomed the women's decisions to reject asylum as a victory against Australia and US President Donald Trump.

Iran’s squad had arrived in Australia for the tournament shortly before the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28, complicating travel arrangements.

Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite described the women's plight in Australia as a “very complex situation.”

“These are deeply personal decisions, and the government respects the decisions of those that have chosen to return. And we continue to offer support to the two that are remaining,” Thistlethwaite said.

Those who stayed in Australia have been moved to an undisclosed safe location and are receiving assistance from the government and the Iranian diaspora community, he said.

Kylie Moore-Gilbert, a political scientist at Sydney's Macquarie University who spent more than two years in Iranian prisons on spying charges from 2018 to 2020, said “winning the propaganda war” had overshadowed the women's welfare.

“The high stakes made the Iranian regime sit up and pay attention and try to force their hand in response, in my view,” Moore-Gilbert said.

"I do think in this case, had these woman quietly sought asylum without that publicity around them, it’s possible that the Islamic Republic officials might have, as they have in the cases of other Iranian sports people in the past who’ve defected ... simply allowed that to happen," she added.

Iran’s Tasnim News Agency said the players who left Australia were “returning to the warm embrace of their family and homeland,” describing their return as a failure of what it called an American-Australian political effort.

Concerns about the team’s safety in Iran heightened when the players didn’t sing the Iranian national anthem.

The Australian government was urged to help the women by Iranian groups in Australia and by Trump.

Some members of the Iranian diaspora in Australia have accused the support staffer who initially accepted asylum then left Australia on Saturday of spreading Iranian government propaganda to her teammates via text messages.

Thistlethwaite said there was no evidence to support the theory that the staffer had persuaded others to leave. All those who had remained in Australia after the team had left were “genuine asylum seekers,” he said.

The embassy in the national capital Canberra remains staffed, despite the Australian government expelling the ambassador last year.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese cut off diplomatic relations with Iran in August after announcing that intelligence officials had concluded that the Revolutionary Guard had directed arson attacks on a Sydney kosher food company and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in 2024.

Australian-Iranian Society of Victoria vice president Kambiz Razmara said the women who accepted asylum had been under pressure from the Tehran regime.

“They’ve had to make decisions at the spur of the moment with very little information and they’ve had to react to the circumstance,” Razmara said. “I’m surprised that they’ve decided to go, but I’m actually not surprised because I appreciate the pressures that they’re experiencing."

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Egypt, Saudi Move Camps from Qatar and Set March 27 Friendly in Jeddah

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
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Egypt, Saudi Move Camps from Qatar and Set March 27 Friendly in Jeddah

The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat
The Saudi flag. Asharq Al-Awsat

Egypt will play Saudi Arabia in a friendly in Jeddah on March 27 after both sides shifted their international-window training camps from Qatar due to travel disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East, the federations said on Sunday.

Qatar had planned to stage a wider ⁠football festival this ⁠month that would have included the 'Finalissima' between Spain and Argentina, but the event was scrapped after UEFA cancelled the match due to regional instability.

The Saudi ⁠federation said their squad would now train in Jeddah and Serbia and play an additional friendly away to Serbia in Belgrade on March 31 as part of preparations for the 2026 World Cup.

Egypt said the Jeddah match was arranged to secure strong preparation for ⁠the ⁠finals in North America later this year, thanking Qatar for its initial efforts to host the festival.

Egypt will play in Group G in the June-July tournament alongside Belgium, Iran and New Zealand, while Saudi Arabia are drawn in Group H with Spain, Uruguay and Cape Verde.

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Sinner Says Arriving Early to Acclimatize Helped Indian Wells Title Bid

Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
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Sinner Says Arriving Early to Acclimatize Helped Indian Wells Title Bid

Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Jannik Sinner of Italy poses with his trophy after defeating Daniil Medvedev of Russia in the final at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament Sunday, March 15, 2026, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)

Jannik Sinner said his first Indian Wells title was the result of meticulous preparation in the heat of the Californian desert after the Italian arrived a week before the tournament began to train and acclimatize.

The world number two has sometimes struggled in hot and humid conditions, most notably when severe cramp nearly forced him to quit his Australian Open third-round match in January and when he retired in retired in Shanghai last year.

However, he showed little sign of discomfort during his 7-6(6) 7-6(4) win over Daniil Medvedev ⁠on Sunday, when ⁠the temperature approached 35 degrees Celsius shortly before the final's scheduled start time of 2 p.m.

"It was hot but it wasn't humid, so it makes a difference," Sinner told reporters, according to Reuters.

"But I've been here a week before the tournament started. Very similar conditions as it was today. We ⁠put in long days of practice. I felt very well prepared, so I wasn't having issues with the weather and the heat, which is very positive for me.

"It's all part of the process we're trying to do and becoming the best possible athlete. We definitely do a lot of work in the gym to play at this level."

Victory meant Sinner has now collected titles at all six ATP Masters 1000 events on hardcourts, as well as ⁠the ATP ⁠Finals, Australian Open and US Open on the surface, to join an elite group also comprising Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

"I knew that this was a tournament I haven't won, so I wanted to prepare in the best possible way, as professionally as possible," he said.

"Having this achievement now means a lot to me. Now I have couple of days to relax ... there is not so much time in between here and Miami.

"It's again an important tournament in Miami, but we try to play the best tennis possible there too."