Indian Wells 2024: Tommy Paul vs Ugo Humbert; Preview, Prediction and Head-to-Head

Court 2 at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden is all set for the clash of the mighty challengers. Tommy Paul and Ugo Humbert have the capability of disrupting any permutations and combinations in this tournament. Both of them have been in red-hot form, heading into the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Who can throw some cold water on his opponent’s incredible winning run?

Ugo Humbert has already won two hard-court titles this year. His first victory came in Marseille earlier this year while his latest triumph came a week ago at the Dubai Tennis Championships. On the other hand, Tommy Paul also won an outdoor hard-court title this year. Can he take advantage of his home crowd and defeat the Frenchman in his next match?

Tommy Paul vs Ugo Humbert: Preview

Tommy Paul started his 2024 season in Adelaide where he reached the QF. But after that, he was defeated by Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanović in a marathon five-setter in the third round of the AO. However, he quickly came back in his next tournament and clinched the title in the Dallas Open, defeating his compatriot Marcos Giron by 7-6(3),5-7,6-3. Paul reached the finals in the Delray Beach Open as well but was defeated by Taylor Fritz in the ultimate battle.

But the Mexican Open didn’t turn out too fruitful for the 26YO American as he was shown the exit door in his first match. However, he might have got a bit of confidence back after comfortably defeating his countryman Alex Michelsen in the first match of the Indian Wells.

Meanwhile, Ugo Humbert is currently full of confidence. He has won 14 of 17 matches so far this season. He reached the R16 in his first tournament this year at Brisbane. In 2024 AO, he managed to go through to the third round. Humbert won the title at the Open 13 then was immediately followed up with a first-round exit in Rotterdam. He made a comeback from the defeat and made it to the QF in the Qatar Open and clinched the title in the Dubai Tennis Championships. 

In Dubai, Humbert defeated Alexander Bublik by 6-4,6-3. The question was can he carry forward the momentum in the Indian Wells as well? He replied to the question with a win against the American tennis player Patrick Kypson to set an intriguing clash against another American. Who’ll win this Top 20 match-up?

Paul vs Humbert: Head-to-Head

Ugo Humbert has reached the third round of the Indian Wells for a second consecutive year. But he has never got the chance to extend his run any farther. Meanwhile, Tommy Paul has made it to the fourth round of this tournament twice in the last three years. Talking about H2H, well the American has a clean sweep in this with a 2-0 margin. 

They first met at the 2018 JSM Challenger of Champaign-Urbana. However, their latest meeting was at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters when Tommy Paul defeated the Frenchman by 6-1,7-6(4) in the R32. 

Ugo Humbert has a 14-4 overall record so far this year and he came to the Indian Wells after winning a title in Dubai. This will surely do good to his confidence in facing the American. Tommy Paul, on the other hand, has an impressive 23-12 record in tour-level matches against left-handers. Tommy Paul is one of the best movers on the court. How far can he move this season? Let’s have a look at the predictions.

Prediction: Disappointment for the home crowd

In the battle of number 17 vs the number 14. Ugo Humbert is not only ahead because of his current rankings but his stellar form over the last few tournaments could well give him an edge over Tommy Paul. Only six players have earned more ranking points than Ugo Humber this year.

Humbert has lost only one of the last eight matches. Although this match seems to be a close fight, there is a higher possibility of Ugo Humbert coming out victorious in front of Tommy Paul’s family, friends and fans in California. What do you think?

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