Ugo Humbert defeated Karen Khachanov in the semi-final of the Masters Paris 1,000 last Saturday. The match ended 6-7(6), 6-4, 6-3, a big comeback for the French player, but one influenced by Khachanov's injury, who didn't let him to fight back.
At the beginning of the third set, Khachanov started feeling discomfort. He was seen visibly in pain and sometimes fell on the floor, and Humbert used it to his advantage. The controversy comes from the effusive celebrations Humbert made every time he got a point, jumping, raising his fists and spurring the Parisian crowd, in front of a rival that couldn't physically go on.
Right when the match ended, the two players shook hand but Khachanov reprimanded Humbert. He told him he should be more respectful. He later said in an interview that he would congratulate Humbert "when he behaves like a normal person".
"I don't have problem with celebrating. You can celebrate after with the crowd, no problem. Injuries are part of the game, I don't say that. But to celebrate when one guy is on the ground? We'll see next time".
Khachanov also said that, in the previous game, he didn't celebrate when he saw his rival, Grigor, was suffering, and that wasn't even an injury, he was just exhausted as he later told him.
Humbert had previously defeated Carlos Alcaraz, but later succumbed before Alexander Zverev in a quick final on Sunday.