No. 21 seed Ugo Humbert of France will face No. 9 seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland in the Australian Open third round. 

 

Hubert Hurkacz leads 2-0 in their head-to-head record so far on the ATP Tour. The Polish player claimed a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 victory over his French opponent in the Swiss Indoors semi-finals a few months ago. 

 

Hurkacz also won his first meeting with Humbert as the Frenchman suffered a 7-6, 6-3 loss at the Halle Open in 2022. 

 

The winner will advance to face either 28^th seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands or French wildcard Arthur Cazaux in the next round. 

 

A positive start to the campaign is crucial for the Frenchman to build on the momentum he gained during the second half of 2023, a successful period that followed a season marked by challenges and Challengers.

 

He started last season outside the Top 100, returned to the top 75 in April and reached the top 20 in the singles rankings by the end of the year. 

 

The Metz-born player extended his perfect ATP final record when he won his clash against Alexander Shevchenko of Russia at the Moselle Open in November. 

 

Having won his first ATP 500 title at the Halle Open in 2021, the triumph in his hometown Metz (250 Series) has to represent the most enjoyable success of Humbert's career. 

 

Ugo Humbert started the new year with a victory over American teenager Alex Michelsen at the Brisbane International. However, the Frenchman was forced to withdraw from his second-round match due to stomach issues. 

 

Humbert returned to action at Melbourne Park earlier this week. He clinched back-to-back four-set wins over experienced David Goffin of Belgium and Zhizhen Zhang of China. 

 

Humbert reached the Australian Open third round twelve months ago. He beat fellow countryman Richard Gasquet in the opening round and Denis Kudla of the United States in the second round, but his best campaign at Melbourne Park ended with a straight-sets defeat to then 9^th seed Holger Rune.

 

All in all, the 25-year-old Frenchman has advanced beyond the third round of a Grand Slam only once and that happened at the Wimbledon Championships in 2019. 

 

Hurkacz's inconsistent form in the first half of the 2023 campaign was quickly forgotten when the Pole elevated his game and began playing at a top-20 level towards the end of the year. 

 

This improvement deservedly earned him a number of good wins and most importantly a title at the Shanghai Masters - his second Masters 1000 crown. Moreover, his performances granted him the opportunity to enter the 2023 ATP Finals as an alternate, replacing Stefanos Tsitsipas, where he lost to Novak Djokovic in three sets. 

 

Hubert Hurkacz reached the Australian Open round of 16 twelve months ago as he played three consecutive five-setters. He beat both Lorenzo Sonego of Italy and Denis Shapovalov of Canada in the second and third round, respectively, while he lost to USA's Sebastian Korda in the fourth round. 

 

The Pole will celebrate his 27^th birthday in a couple of weeks and he's just equalled his career-high ranking of No. 9. By reaching the third-round, Hurkacz is just one step away from equalling his best Australian Open performance.

 

Seeded at No.9 at the Australian Open, Hurkacz started his campaign with a 7-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australian qualifier Omar Jasika in the first round. He went on to avoid a second-round upset against Czech Republic's qualifier Jakub Mensik in the second round.

 

Hurkacz was dragged into a demanding five-setter against the Czech but he eventually wrapped up a 6-7, 6-1, 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 victory, with 19 aces and 48 winners. To be fair, Mensik also fired 19 aces and even more winners than Hurkacz, but the Czech made significantly more double faults and unforced errors. 

 

Now, Hubert Hurkacz will be keen to maintain the low level of mistakes against Humbert. 

 

Meanwhile, Hurkacz also played a key role when Poland eliminated France in the United Cup semi-finals earlier this month. He beat Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 7-5 in singles. 

 

Thus, Hurkacz guided Poland to the United Cup final where he suffered a 7-6, 6-7, 4-6 defeat to Alexander Zverev of Germany in singles and also failed to win on mixed doubles as he and his partner Iga Swiatek lost in three sets to Laura Siegemund and Alexander Zverev. 

 

The Pole is aiming to extend his winning streak against Ugo Humbert but based on his performances, the Frenchman would also fancy his chances of winning. 

 

We expect a really tight matchup here. Hubert Hurkacz is favored to win this match but Humbert's form must also be considered.