Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios have engaged in a war of words in the early stages of the Australian Open. On Wednesday they will contest respective second-round matches against Frances Tiafoe and Ugo Humbert.
(1) Novak Djokovic vs. Frances Tiafoe
Djokovic’s Australian Open title defense got off to a predictably strong start with a 6-3, 6-1, 6-2 beatdown of Jeremy Chardy on Monday. The eight-time champion is now 3-0 overall this month, having defeated Denis Shapovalov and Alexander Zverev at the ATP Cup. Djokovic arrived in Melbourne as an obvious heavy title favorite and has given no reason for anything to change.
Up next for the top-seeded Serb on Wednesday is a first-ever meeting with Tiafoe. The 64th-ranked American is 2-2 so far this season with a quarterfinal performance in Delray Beach and a first-round exit at last week’s Murray River Open. Although Tiafoe has plenty of talent, he is just 3-18 lifetime against top-10 opponents and 0-8 against the top five. It’s hard to see him even coming close in this one.
Pick: Djokovic in 3 losing 8-10 games
Nick Kyrgios vs. (29) Ugo Humbert
It’s unlikely that we see a Djokovic vs. Kyrgios semifinal showdown, but Kyrgios’ campaign at least got started on the right foot. The 47th-ranked Aussie had no trouble disposing off Frederico Ferreira Silva 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 on Monday night. It was a much-needed victory for Kyrgios, who did not play at all in 2020 after the pandemic hit and did not play well at last week’s Murray River Open.
Interestingly, the 25-year-old’s final appearance in 2020 came against none other than Humbert–his second-round opponent Down Under. At the Acapulco event last February, Humbert took the opening set of their only previous encounter 6-3 before Kyrgios retired. Another retirement wouldn’t come as a complete shock, because Kyrgios dealt with apparent knee issues during last week’s tournament. Even if he is 100 percent, though, Humbert is coming off a stellar 2020 campaign and he is capable of beating Kyrgios fair and square.
Pick: Humbert in 4
WWW?
Joker in a routine 3….Humbert in 4.
Humbert was my pick
Tiafoe was really fired up in the 2nd set but he couldn’t keep it going.
Hope Kyrgios enjoys his 48 hours of fame because it will be a while before he experiences it again.
Thiem in 3 (maybe 4 sets)
Tiafoe can mix it with the best but just lacks that bit of self belief and he probably plays a bit too clean.
He needs a bit more killer instinct and believe that he is one of them. Even though he probably doesnt have the pedigree that stay with them all year, he would pull off more top 10 upsets with a slight mental adjustment