Daniil Medvedev will face a tricky opponent in his first clay-court match of 2020 when he plays Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the opening round of the Hamburg European Open.
The Russian is fresh off his run to the semi-finals of the US Open, but he will have to find his clay feet quickly against an in-form opponent who defeated Kevin Anderson and Fabio Fognini at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. This will be their first ATP Head2Head meeting. The lefty Humbert does well to keep play on his terms, but the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals competitor will have to work hard to finish off points against the top seed.
Medvedev is making his first appearance in Hamburg since 2016 when he was 20. Four years ago, then-World No. 215, Medvedev qualified and reached the second round of the main draw. The top seed will pursue his maiden ATP Tour title on clay. Last year, he made the semi-finals of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
The first seeded player Medvedev could face is 2013 champion Fognini, the sixth seed. The Italian begins his tournament against German wild card Philipp Kohlschreiber.
Medvedev isn’t the only tournament favourite to face a tough first-round match. Second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas will play British No. 1 Daniel Evans. The Greek won their only previous clash 6-2, 6-3 in Dubai earlier this year.
Evans will make Tsitsipas think hard throughout their match, though. The World No. 33 is not known for his clay-court game, but he uses a great variety of pace and spins to manoeuvre the ball around the court and keep opponents off balance. Both players will be looking to get back on track after losing their opening match in Rome.
One of the matches to watch in the first round is between fourth seed Roberto Bautista Agut and two-time defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili. It will be a classic match-up of offence against defence, as Basilashvili will try to blast his way through the always stout defences of Bautista Agut. The other seeded player in their quarter is fifth seed Andrey Rublev, who opens against a qualifier.
The Spaniard leads their ATP Head2Head series 2-1, with the Georgian winning their most recent match in Dubai last year. This will be Bautista Agut’s first clay-court match since the ATP Tour resumed in August. Basilashvili will try to improve his 10-1 record in Hamburg.
#NextGenATP Canadian star Felix Auger-Aliassime will play Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who defeated Basilashvili in Rome. The winner will play seventh seed Diego Schwartzman — who plays Rafael Nadal in the Rome quarter-finals — or Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
Third seed Gael Monfils will try to earn his first victory of the ATP Tour’s resumption when he battles wild card Yannick Hanfmann. The German reached his second tour-level final last week in Kitzbühel, where he was a qualifier.
Former World No. 4 Kei Nishikori will face a tough test against Chilean Cristian Garin, who has won all four of his ATP Tour titles on clay. Eighth seed Karen Khachanov will try to battle through an all-power match against German Jan-Lennard Struff. Their two ATP Head2Head meetings have gone to a deciding set, with each man winning once.
