Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ugo Humbert: 2023 Shanghai Masters - Preview & Prediction
ATP
Stefanos Tsitsipas made a winning start at the 2023 Shanghai Masters, and now he'd like to keep it going against Ugo Humbert.
Tsitsipas hasn't had much luck in tennis lately, suffering a couple of big disappointments. He first disappointed in the Davis Cup, where he was unable to power Greece past Slovakia. He then crashed out early at the China Open by losing to Nicolas Jarry.
Shanghai has been a bit different as he started off with a win, and now he's looking to make it two. The opponent is Ugo Humbert, a really tricky player who is good enough to beat this version of Tsitsipas, especially in these conditions.
Head-to-head:
Tsitsipas and Humbert played a few of times so far on the ATP Tour, and the French player leads 2-1. That just shows how tricky this matchup is for Tsitsipas, as all three matches happened on hard courts, and he only won one. It was actually the most recent one (Toronto, 2021) that he won, but it came in three sets.
Most of the trouble comes from Humbert's playstyle, which is very attacking, and Tsitsipas struggled greatly with that. Add a fast surface to the mix, and you have a recipe for disaster.
Prediction:
Even so, this promises to be a bit different. Yes, the court does play rather quickly in Shanghai, but the balls slow down play quite a bit, and it might benefit Tsitsipas far more than Humbert. We've seen it in their respective matches.
Tsitispas cruised comfortably while Humbert struggled a bit. Even so, I don't see Tsitsipas really cruising here because Humbert has a good enough serve to keep it close. I wouldn't be shocked if Humbert pulls out a win but I think Tsitispas is closer to winning. I like him in this spot.
Prediction: Stefanos Tsitispas to win in three sets.
