PARIS (AP) — Alexander Zverev reached the final of the Paris Masters for the second time after beating former champion Holger Rune 6-3, 7-6 (4) on Saturday.

The 2020 runner-up will next face 15th-seeded Frenchman Ugo Humbert, who defeated 2018 champion Karen Khachanov 6-7 (6), 6-4, 6-3 to reach his first Masters final at the age of 26 years.

Sunday’s victory would give Zverev a seventh Masters title and would also move him past No. 1-ranked Jannik Sinner for the most wins on the ATP circuit this year. They are tied at 65.

Despite having a busy schedule (this was his 85th match this year), Zverev went to practice afterwards. It’s a routine he’s imposing on himself to close the gap between four-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner, who has won two majors.

“It’s about improving some things. I feel like Jannik and Carlos are doing some things better than me right now,” Zverev said. “I feel like they are very aggressive. I think tennis is going in that direction and, in general, I also want to improve for next year.”

Although Zverev will surpass Alcaraz to move into second place in the ATP rankings next week, he feels he still needs more to become a big winner like them.

“For me, Jannik has the best year this season and then Carlos had the second best year. He won two Grand Slams,” said Zverev, the French Open runner-up. “I’m ahead of him in the rankings (soon), but he won Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Those are two huge titles. So, in my opinion, they are still the two best players in the world.”

Rune saved a match point with a brilliant crosscourt forehand, but third seed Zverev held his nerve in the next with a clear backhand volley into the net.

“I feel like I made it a little difficult for myself but he is a champion. It’s probably his favorite tournament and his favorite court,” Zverev, 27, said. “I’m happy to be in my second final here, I’m looking forward to it.”

Zverev had greater control against Rune in the fourth match of his career and first on indoor hard courts. He improved to 3-1 overall against his rival, who won the Paris Masters in 2022 by upsetting Novak Djokovic in the final.

Rune saved a break point in her first service game as she battled from the back of the court.

Zverev broke serve in the fourth game when Rune’s two-handed backhand went wide, and he held serve to take a 4-1 lead in a dominant first set, securing the win when his opponent returned long.

He broke the Danish number 13 player to serve for the match for the first time at 5-4, but Rune returned serve.

In a long eleventh game, both players missed opportunities and reached a sixth deuce before Rune finally won with a backhand volley into the net.

That was the end of his resistance and Zverev had no problems in his next service game and in the tiebreak.

The German, with a great serve, aspires to win his second title of the year and 23rd overall.

Humbert is in line to win his third title of 2024 and the seventh of his career.

His confidence was high after the knockout. Alcaraz in the third round. But Humbert blew a 5-2 lead in the first set tiebreaker, with a double fault and two unforced errors.

In a tough match that lasted 2 hours and 46 minutes, Humbert received a time violation from referee Richard Haigh when serving for the second set, prompting boos from the home crowd.

Khachanov, 28, called a coach in the sixth game of the deciding set and received a massage on his right thigh.

The big Russian hitter seemed to be hampered after that.

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