Andrey Rublev will be aiming for revenge when he faces Ugo Humbert in the quarterfinals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters on Friday.
They just squared off in the Beijing second round, with Humbert prevailing 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3). That tied their head-to-head series on the main tour at 2-2, although Rublev still leads 3-2 overall having scored a 6-4, 6-4 qualifying victory at the 2019 Monte-Carlo Masters. The Russian is 2-1 against Humbert on hard courts, with wins at the 2020 St. Petersburg tournament (4-6, 6-4, 7-5) and earlier this season in Indian Wells (7-5, 6-3).
Following Carlos Alcaraz’s loss to Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday, Rublev is the only top-10 seed and only player ranked better than 17th remaining in the tournament. The Monte-Carlo champion has put himself in position for another Masters 1000 title with Shanghai victories over Quentin Halys, Adrian Mannarino, and Tommy Paul all in straight sets.
Humbert has been playing the best tennis of his career in recent months. By reaching the Shanghai quarterfinals, the 34th-ranked Frenchman has advanced at least this far in five of his last eight tournaments. He has maintained momentum from his 5-7, 6-3, 7-6(3) Beijing upset of Rublev with wins this fortnight at the expense of Botic van de Zandschulp, Stefanos Tsitsipas, J.J. Wolf.
Humbert’s current ceiling may be higher than Rublev’s, but Rublev remains the more consistent of the two. That may be for enough for him to avenge his Beijing defeat. This could be the best match of the tournament; the winner will have a great chance to take home the title and may even have to be considered the favorite.
Pick: Rublev in 3
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Rublev gets revenge…in 2.