It’s day 3 at the Madrid Open! We have already seen some surprising exits and incredible performances from the stars of the tennis world. But today we are going to shift our focus to a battle between Ugo Humbert and Botic Van de Zandschulp. Who will win this exciting contest in the R64 of the Madrid Open?

Ugo Humbert has been in red-hot form this year. He has already clinched two titles this year and reached the QF in two other tournaments. Humbert will look forward to keeping the momentum going and bringing back a few more trophies to home this year. Zandschulp is entering this match after a dominating performance against the American tennis star, Chris Eubanks, in his first match in Madrid. It will be interesting to see who gets to the other side of the finishing line first in this match.

Ugo Humbert vs Botic van de Zandschulp: Preview

The 25-year-old Frenchman started his clay court season with a QF run at the Monte Carlo Masters. But in Barcelona, Ugo Humbert faced an early exit at the hands of Serbia’s Dusan Lajovic. The Serbian tennis player defeated the number 14 in the world by a 6-4,6-4 margin. Throughout the match, Humbert managed to hit only a single ace against Lajovic. But he managed to put a check on his double faults, committing only one in the entire match. His first serve win percentage against Lajovic was only 55% while it notched up to 69% on his second serve.

Humbert managed to convert two out of his five breakpoints and won six of his service games against the Serbian. His numbers were pretty ordinary in that match, he would surely love to improve that in his next match against the Dutch. If we take a closer look at the numbers from his 2024 season so far, the Frenchman has hit a staggering 113 aces and committed just 25 double faults this year. Surely, serve is going to be his lethal weapon heading into this contest. In fact, Humbert has won 86% of his service games compared to just 23% of his return games.

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Can Botic van de Zandschulp stop Ugo Humbert from acing his aces? Well, if we look at Zandschulp’s record for this season, his deepest run this year has been up to the R16 in the tournaments this year. Zandschulp made his pro debut almost eleven years ago, but he hasn’t yet won a title in his singles career. He first came to the limelight in the 2021 US Open, where he became the only third qualifier in the history of the tournament to reach the QF. Can the Dutchman bring back his glory days?

Zandschulp did reflect his dominance in his previous match against Eubanks. He defeated the American by 6-3,6-3 and had fired five aces throughout the match, committing only a single double fault against Chris Eubanks. His first serve win percentage (88%) was quite impressive in that match, but it got dropped to 40% in the second serve. Zandschulp converted four out of his five breakpoints and won eight of his service games in that match. These are not just numbers, but a statement! A statement of the potential of this Dutchman.

The Dutchman has a record of hitting seventy-one aces this season, but he has committed fifty-three double faults. His win percentage of service games is quite higher than that of his return games. So, the one who aces the ace and converts all his chances wins this match! But who won their previous encounters?

Humbert vs Zandschulp: Head-to-Head

Both the tennis stars have met each other thrice in their careers so far. Their first meeting came at ITF Germany F9 in 2017, but Zandschulp had to retire in the middle of that match and Humbert was declared the winner in that contest. But in their next meeting at the 2023 Shanghai Masters, it took three sets to decide the ultimate winner. Even there, Ugo Humbert had the last laugh! Their last meeting came this year at the Miami Open, Ugo Humbert defeated Botic van de Zandschulp by 6-4,6-3.

Zandschulp hit seven aces compared to only three by Humbert. Even the number of double faults by the Dutchman was quite less than the Frenchman. However, Humbert had a better number when it came it his win percentage on the first serve(84%) compared to only 66% of Zandschulp. But the 28-year-old Dutchman had the numbers in his favor when it came to the second serve. He converted only one out of three breakpoints in that match. While Humbert managed to convert three out of his breakpoints. So, who is going to win this enticing contest?

Prediction: Humbert to win this match by three sets

If we look at their current form, then there is only one name that would emerge as the favorite before heading into the contest. But sadly, the matches are played on courts and not on paper! So, ruling out Zandschulp completely won’t be a wise thing to do, especially after looking at his performance in the previous match. So, this match seems to be going a bit deeper this time around.

But Ugo Humbert will have a slight edge and his win-loss record for this year has been 18-7 compared to just 7-11 of Zandschulp’s. Both of the tennis stars don’t have a great record in this tournament. So they would love to improve their performances this time around, Humbert’s offensive game styles, his incredible volleys, and powerful backhands may come in handy against Zandschulp in Madrid. So, Ugo Humbert all the way? Let us know your prediction in the comments below.