On the heels of opening-round byes, top two seeds Daniil Medvedev and Ugo Humbert will take the court for the first time in ‘s-Hertogenbosch on Thursday. Medvedev meets Adrian Mannarino; Humbert battles Dan Evans.
(1) Daniil Medvedev vs. (LL) Adrian Mannarino
An extensive head-to-head rivalry on grass–and specifically at this tournament–will add another chapter when Medvedev and Mannarino square off yet again at the Libema Open on Thursday. They have split their eight previous overall encounters at four wins apiece, with Mannarino leading 3-2 on grass and 2-1 in ‘s-Hertogenbosch. The French left-hander prevailed at this event in 2016 and 2023, while Medvedev got the job done in 2022. They have faced each other twice at Wimbledon, where Mannarino survived a five-set thriller in 2018 and Medvedev cruised in straight sets two years ago.
Even though Mannarino has plunged to No. 127 in the world, he can never be discounted on his favorite surface. The 36-year-old needed a lucky-loser spot in the main draw this week, but he made the most of it by beating Christopher O’Connell 6-1, 6-3 on Wednesday. This is Medvedev’s first grass-court match of the summer as he looks to emerge from a slump that has him down at 11th in the rankings. It may take some time before the top-seeded Russian finds his footing on the lawn, but he should be able to get past an opponent who is also lacking confidence.
Pick: Medvedev in 3
(Q) Dan Evans vs. (2) Ugo Humbert
This is another matchup between two guys who absolutely love grass. Unlike Medvedev and Mannarino, however, Humbert and Evans are not overly familiar with each other. They have gone head-to-head only twice–not once since 2020–and split a pair of indoor hard-court showdowns in ’19 (Evans prevailed at the Quimper Challenger) and ’20 (Humbert won in the Antwerp semifinals).
Plagued by injuries, Evans had not won a single tour-level match before defeating Rinky Hijikata 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 on Wednesday. Humber has been dealing with physical problems of his own and he has never been effective on clay, so it’s no surprise that he also heads into the grass-court swing in a massive slump. Still, grass should be just what the doctor ordered for the world No. 20; not even the surface may be able to save Evans right now.
Pick: Humbert in 3
WWW?
Medv ml + humbert l + Michelsen ml -102
Faa vex GMP over 2.5 sets +100
Opelka vs jarry O 2.5 sets +105
Hurakz ml + nakashima ml +100
welp
Mannarino is off the tour now and is really old and hasn’t made it to R4 of Wimby since 18, though his last graas title was 2 years ago, Medvedev has made BTB Wimby SF’s the last 2 years, he’s clearly the class grasser in this match today and is the big fav., Meddy in 2.
Evans has been healthy all year long, he’s ranked low so he’s been off the tour and playing CH’s, Evans squeaked out 2 qualy matches and a 1rd match vs. low quality grassers, Humbert is a huge fav. here, but he has retired in his last 2 events so hopefully he has his physical side sorted by now, if he was that far off he would have pulled out probably, Humbert in 3.
Medvedev should be IMO better on grass than his record. Big serve, flat groundstrokes.
pretty loopy FH though
Yeah but the great players adapt
Mannarino flat awkward GS as well and a slice serve . Great for grass, pity he’s past it.
So it was Meddy in 2 and Humbert in 2.