Shanghai Masters 2023: Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ugo Humbert preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds, and pick
Match Details
Fixture: (4) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs (32) Ugo Humbert
Date: October 9, 2023
Tournament: Shanghai Masters 2023
Round: Third Round (Round of 32)
Venue: Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China
Category: ATP 1000
Surface: Hard (Indoor)
Prize money: $8,800,000
Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | Canada - TSN | UK - Amazon Prime Video
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ugo Humbert preview
Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will take on Ugo Humbert in the third round of the 2023 Shanghai Masters on Monday.
After a first-round bye, Tsitsipas faced qualifier Rinky Hijikata in the second round. The former pulled ahead in the first set courtesy of an early break to lead 3-1. However, the Greek's opponent fought back to make it 4-4.
Tsitsipas then broke Hijikata's serve once again in the ninth game and served out the opener after that to win the set. The second set was quite one-sided as the Greek bagged five straight games to win the match 6-4, 6-2.
Humbert, too, received a bye into the second round, where Botic van de Zandschulp awaited him. The Frenchman gave up his 2-0 lead in the first set to trail 4-2. But he wrestled back the control of the set as he swept the next four games to claim the opener.
Humbert's momentum came to a halt as he was outplayed in the second set and could only manage to win a single game en route to losing it. The Frenchman bounced back in the decider and broke his opponent's serve twice in it to score a 6-4, 1-6, 6-2 victory.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ugo Humbert head-to-head
Humbert leads Tsitsipas 2-1 in the head-to-head. The Greek won their previous encounter at the 2021 Canadian Open in three sets.
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ugo Humbert odds
(Odds are sourced from BetMGM)
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Ugo Humbert prediction
After a disappointing week in Beijing where he lost in the first round, Tsitsipas played much better here to oust Hijikata. He won 81% of his first serve points and hit 18 winners. He even took 10 points in a row towards the end of the match.
Humbert recovered from a second set stumble to get past van de Zandschulp. His results this season have been quite inconsistent, but he loves to play against Tsitsipas. All of their previous encounters have gone the distance. The Frenchman claimed the first couple of them, but lost their last one.
Humbert offensive ballstriking has put Tsitsipas on the backfoot in the past. With the latter being a little out of form too, he'll need to be dialled in right from the start. The Greek's gameplay also breaks down quite easily these days, but if he plays some focused tennis, he could certainly make it through this clash.
Pick: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in three sets.