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#2 Pierre-Hugues Herbert v Mikhail Kukushkin
Pierre-Hugues Herbert has always been known as a doubles player in the circuit. But in the second half of 2017 he initiated a surge in his singles ranking, becoming No. 63 in August. From there his ranking has stabilized and he stands at 57th now. Herbert has been playing challengers & ATP 250 events largely and the Paris Masters will be his chance to announce himself as a singles player.
Mikhail Kukushkin has been a consistent player this year winning a decent amount of matches in the bigger tournaments. He had upset Chung in the US Open earlier and enjoyed a great run to the semifinals at Vienna.
That is why Pierre-Hugues must be at the top of his game today. They haven't played each other yet but Herbert should use his serve & volley to good effect and must be looking to capitalize on the Kazakhstani's average serve.
Prediction - Pierre-Hugues Herbert to win in 3 sets
