The ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament will waste no time in striking a blow as the main draw competition kicks off on Monday with a first-round showdown between Daniil Medvedev and Ugo Humbert.
This is their fifth meeting, with Humbert leading the head-to-head series 3-1. The French left-hander has won two of his three hard-court encounters (all outdoors) and most recently triumphed 7-5, 6-3 in the 2024 Dubai semi-finals.
Although Medvedev is also practiced indoors, this surface should favor Humbert to an even greater extent. Four of his seven ATP titles and two of his four second-place finishes have come on indoor hard courts. The world number 38 has a disappointing result in Montpellier (lost in the second round to eventual finalist Adrian Mannarino), but that at least means he is well rested for Rotterdam. And it’s not that Humbert is playing badly: he reached the final in Adelaide last month (fell to Tomas Machac in three sets).
Medvedev was already everywhere in 2026. The 11th-ranked Frenchman started his season with a title in Brisbane and showed brief signs of potentially making a deep run at the Australian Open, but was absolutely defeated by student Tien 6-4, 6-0, 6-3 in the fourth round.
Although Medvedev is a former champion of this event (2023), he is still only 6-4 in his last 10 matches in Rotterdam. An early exit from this tournament is nothing out of the ordinary for the former world number 1, and another opportunity could come against one of the best indoor players on tour.
Choice: Humbert in 3
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