Novak Djokovic will kick off his Basel campaign against a tough indoor hard-court opponent in Ugo Humbert on Wednesday. Hubert Hurkacz tries to maintain his recent momentum at the expense of Holger Rune.
(4) Novak Djokovic vs. Ugo Humbert
Djokovic recently indicated that he plans on finishing 2026 in Turin and beginning 2027 in Australia. Beyond that, all bets are off. However, the 39-year-old Serb still has some work to do if he wants to clinch his spot in the Nitto ATP Finals. He is currently No. 12 in the world and No. 11 in the race (No. 10 if you eliminate Jannik Sinner, who is out for the remainder of the season). Djokovic looked like his own season might as well have been over during the summer hard-court swing, but he bounced back in style to capture yet another Beijing title earlier this month.
Up first at the Swiss Indoors Basel for the 24-time Grand Slam champion on Wednesday is Humbert, who lost their only previous meeting 6-3, 6-2, 6-3 seven years ago in the Wimbledon fourth round. Humbert obviously has a much better chance against the current version of Djokovic, but the 38th-ranked Frenchman probably isn’t playing well enough to capitalize. He is a horrendous 2-8 in his last 10 matches dating back to the grass-court swing in June. It would be quite alarming for Djokovic if he does not win this match with relative ease.
Pick: Djokovic in 2
(10) Hubert Hurkacz vs. Holger Rune
Rune is 12 months removed from a torn Achilles’, which he suffered in the Stockholm semifinals against Humbert last October. The 23-year-old finally returned finally returned in September and results have understandably been mixed. He won a pair of Davis Cup rubbers against Bulgaria, lost right away in Tokyo and Shanghai, and battled past Quentin Halys 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-6(5) on Monday.
Wednesday also marks the second encounter between Rune and Hurkacz, with the Dane getting the job done 7-5, 6-1 on his way to the 2022 Paris Masters title. The rematch should favor Hurkacz given the Pole’s current form. He compiled a 10-3 record on the Asian swing with a runner-up effort in Chengdu, a semifinal performance in Beijing, and a fourth-round result in Shanghai. Hurkacz added another win over Zizou Bergs on Monday, when he cracked 13 aces and won 85 percent of his first-serve points. On an indoor hard court, the No. 10 seed’s serve will likely be too much for an opponent who is not yet close to regaining his best level.
Pick: Hurkacz in 3
WWW?
Djokovic will be playing challengers/ITF again.
Its the love of the sport that matters. 🙂
That Hurkacz-Rune match was a total coin toss in the end. Also they were so even they actually finished with exactly the same number of points, both serving and receiving points exactly the same. Both had match points and the tie break was won by one point. This was about as close to a draw as it’s possible to be in tennis.
Some great close matches this week.
Esp the Zverev-Landaluce
The kid played unrelenting brilliance and really looked like he was going to win
He’s skilling himself rapidly against top players all right.
I also want to take my hat off to Basilashvili for his second set against Alcaraz.🎩
And to Tommy Paul for the double breadstick today.🥖🥖
And to Vacherot for edging Jodar.
At least Djokovic is ready for Paris. Although he lost, he posted some good numbers today. BP conversions could’ve been better.
Struff is playing well atm and was hot coming into this match.
I was so over the moon for Struffi when I saw the results this morning. He’s not exactly a junior himself and had lost all eight times before so this was enormous for him, especially with Djokovic playing well himself. Well done Struffi!âš¡
Also a shame to see Cobolli injured. I’m hoping he can recover by Turin. Side note, the support hugs from Berrettini were an example of what is great about contemporary men’s tennis. Those two are friends and teammates, but it was the same when ADF lost to de Minaur in Washington last year after holding match points. That kind of thing and genuineness at the net just seems to me to be much more common now, at least among the top players, than in the Big Three era. Am I misremembering?
I’m not a fan of friendships in tennis, I wasn’t a fan of Sharapova, but I liked that she wasn’t interested in being friends with her opponents, on or off court, Zheng is the same apparently, Sharapova said I’m not giving high fives in the showers, I get in, and get out as quickly as possible, I always found it irritating when Murray and Nadal who were two of my favorite players, would be all paly paly with Novak instead of finding ways to beat him, and what is it with Badosa who kisses up to Sabalenka, like all she cares about is being big mates with her instead of winning matches