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Match details
Fixture: Nick Kyrgios vs (29) Ugo Humbert
Date: 10 February 2021
Tournament: Australian Open 2021
Round: Second round (Round of 64)
Venue: Melbourne, Australia
Category: Grand Slam
Surface: Outdoor Hardcourt
Prize money: AUD $80 million
Live Telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | India - Sony Ten Network / Sony Liv Premium
Nick Kyrgios vs Ugo Humbert preview
Australia's own Nick Kyrgios will face No. 29 seed Ugo Humbert on Wednesday in a blockbuster second round match at the 2021 Australian Open.
Kyrgios, often in the news more for his off-court mischief than his on-court brilliance, stayed true to his reputation last year. He repeatedly made the headlines as he called out various players - including World No. 1 Novak Djokovic - for their demeanor during the pandemic.
Kyrgios himself didn't play any event in 2020 after February. He only returned to the court last week, losing to Borna Coric in the Round of 16 at the Murray River Open.
But despite lacking match practice, the Aussie didn't have much trouble moving past his first-round opponent Frederico Ferreira Silva at the Australian Open. And in the press conference after the win, Kyrgios once again ignited his war of words with Novak Djokovic.
The Aussie called Djokovic a 'very strange cat', before making yet another reference to the Serb's infamous player party during the Adria Tour last July.
World No. 34 Ugo Humbert on the other hand had a breakthrough 2020, but struggled to hit the ground running last week in Melbourne. The Frenchman lost in the opening round of the tune-up event to another Aussie, James Duckworth, in straight sets.
Humbert has now bounced back though, putting up a decent showing in his four-set win over Yasutaka Uchiyama at the Australian Open.
Nick Kyrgios vs Ugo Humbert head-to-head
The second round match at the Australian Open will be the second career meeting between Nick Kyrgios and Ugo Humbert.
The two players have met only once before, in a truncated match at Acapulco last year where Kyrgios retired after losing the first set. The match also eventually turned out to be the Aussie's last competitive encounter of 2020.
Nick Kyrgios vs Ugo Humbert prediction
This is an exciting match-up between two players who employ similar styles of play. Both Nick Kyrgios and Ugo Humbert have a strong serve, aggressive groundstrokes and deft touch at the net.
Kyrgios received a lot of help from his favorite weapon - the serve - in his opening match on Monday. The mercurial Aussie got 80% of his first serves in, and hammered down 14 aces. He did get broken twice in the match, but broke his opponent five times to complete the win without making things too complicated for himself.
Humbert meanwhile also put up a convincing serving display, sending down 14 aces himself while winning 80% of his first serve points.
The outcome is quite difficult to predict when two players with so many similarities in their games go up against each other. Humbert is definitely the more in-form player out of the two based on last year's results, while the motivation to perform in front of his home crowd should push Kyrgios to play his best tennis.
All things considered, however, the Frenchman might just have just enough solidity in his game to outlast the unpredictable Kyrgois.
Prediction: Ugo Humbert to win in four sets.
