Slovenia

Aljaz Bedene

France

Ugo Humbert

The first set is unlikely to be protracted. Tennis players will be making a lot of mistakes

Bedene has played only one match this season. At the Indian Wells Masters, Aljaž lost in the first round in two games to Kamil Majdžak (1-6, 5-7). Apparently, the Slovenian is not yet ready to play at a high level. It's quite possible that Bedene just recently returned from the infirmary. At the 2021 Masters in Miami, Aljaž left the competition after losing to Kei Nishikori (6-7, 7-5, 4-6) in the second round. Umber started his season with a sensational 6-7, 7-5, 7-6 win over Daniil Medvedev at the ATP Cup. And so far this is the only win for the Frenchman in 2022. Umber lost all his subsequent matches this season. His losing streak now stands at six matches. At the recent Masters in Indian Wells, Umber lost in the first round to Denmark's Holger Rune (3-6, 2-6). Both players left a lot to be desired. As you can see they are far from their peak performance. Umber won just one title in seven matches this season. Bedene had only one match. The bookmakers see Hugo as the favourite. But it is likely that in the first game both athletes will make many mistakes. Don't expect a long first set. No more than nine games will be played.