It's fortunate that Ugo Humbert enjoys the company of his fellow Frenchmen - because lately, the 26-year-old has seen many of them on tour.
After finishing runner-up to countryman Arthur Fils at last week's Japan Open, Humbert claimed victory over Arthur Cazaux in the Rolex Shanghai Masters second round. It set a showdown with another Frenchman, with Humbert now preparing to take on Gael Monfils.
"I'm super happy, super happy to play against Gael," smiled the Metz-born lefthander, explaining his acquaintance with Monfils spans many years. "He's a good friend of me … so, yeah, super happy, and it will be a nice match."
That Humbert would face all-French battles at the world's most prestigious tournaments is arguably no surprise.
At world No.15, Humbert leads a tournament-high contingent of eleven Frenchmen in the Rolex Shanghai Masters main draw. That number was bolstered when 161st-ranked Terence Atmane won through qualifying.
Italy and the United States are the next-best represented nation, with ten players each.
There's both an impressive recent history and a bright future within the French force.
The 38-year-old Monfils, the most senior member of that group, remains a top 50 player after almost two decades on tour. Fils, the youngest top 100 ranked Frenchman, has lifted three ATP singles trophies before turning 21.
Humbert is delighted that the future for French men's tennis appears bright.
"We have a great generation, new generation with Arthur Fils, Arthur Cazaux, we have Luca Van Assche as well, Giovanni Mpetshi (Perricard), he's playing so good," he said.
"So it's nice, those guys are really young, with not big experience … it's only the first year on the ATP Tour, but, I mean, in the two, three years, they will be really good. Maybe if we can have like three or four players in the top 30 it would be nice."
The growing strength in numbers for French men's players follows a pattern that spans over 100 years.
René Lacoste, Jean Borotra, Jacques Brugnon, and Henri Cochet were dubbed "The Four Musketeers" in a golden era of the 1920s and early 1930s, when the Frenchmen won a combined 18 Grand Slam singles and 13 doubles titles, with France also crowned Davis Cup champions for seven straight years.
The term was revived as Monfils, Richard Gasquet, plus the now-retired Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon became the "Next Musketeers" when they starred for French tennis earlier this century. The Parisian is on hand as the next wave of talented players emerge.
"They know that they can ask me anything," Monfils said of the younger group. "I always try to help them, if they're raising some questions. I'm just there, you know, to try to push some of them."
Humbert is an equally positive influence for French friends on tour. "I have a good relationship with Arthur (Fils), because we played the Olympics together, the Davis Cup as well, and I really like this guy, it's incredible to have him for the French tennis," he said.
The world No.15 can be proud of the example he sets as the nation's No.1.
Humbert was a quarterfinalist last year in Shanghai, stunning No.6 seed Stefanos Tsitsipas along the way. He is a winner of two titles this season and contested a thrilling final against Fils in Tokyo, where he held a match point.
"My mindset I think was really good," said Humbert of a successful return this year to Shanghai, where he surrendered only five gives against Cazaux.
"Today was difficult, because with travel and everything with the final championship match, so, yeah, I was a little bit tired. But, yeah, I was on court, and just play every point a hundred percent ... I was super positive."
It's an optimism he'll take into his next match with Monfils, knowing that French tennis will win either way.
