The world's 25th-ranked player, Karen Khachanov, will meet Ugo Umbert, ranked 28th, in the 1/4 finals of the Olympics tennis tournament. Both players have never faced each other before.
Karen Khachanov form
We have already written before that Karen Khachanov came to the Olympics in great shape. This is obvious, after looking at his results at Wimbledon. We should recall that Khachanov reached the fifth round in the capital of England, losing in five sets to Denis Shapovalov, which is certainly an excellent result.
Khachanov played three matches at the Olympics already, two of which were three sets against Nishioka and Schwartzman. Only Duckworth was able to beat the Russian. At the same time, I would not say that the match against Schwartzman was very difficult. Because of the heat, tennis players are more prone to slumps than usual. Khachanov won the first set against Diego 6-1, lost the second game 2-6, and won the third set 6-1. Karen himself complained about the difficult weather conditions, and we hope that Khachanov is physically ready enough for the quarterfinals.
We asked to put the matches in later. I don't really understand... I don't want to seem picky and somehow weak - on the contrary, I consider myself physically strong enough - but to play in such a heat means to die on the court... Other sports are held in the air-conditioned hall, some play outside, but they start earlier. I don't see any reason why you can't start games at 4 or 5 p.m. There's good lighting, yes, it will be just as sweltering and hot in the evening, but it won't be that sunshine. You can feel the 10-degree difference quietly. Why they don't do that, I don't know.
Ugo Humbert form
Umber has already become a high-profile sensation at an Olympic tennis tournament. In the 1/8 finals, the Frenchman defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas, one of the main contenders for the title in Tokyo. The match lasted two hours and 23 minutes in three sets and the tie-break in the second game was decisive. The Greek won the first set confidently 6-2. Before beating Tsitsipas, Umber was stronger against Kecmanovic and Andujar; Ugo also played a three-set match against the Serb. We should also mention that Umber was stronger against Andrei Rublev in the grass-court final. Let's see if Khachanov can stand up to his Olympic teammate and doubles play.
Expert betting tips
Bookmakers believe that the opponents have almost equal chances to win the upcoming game. We're siding with the Russian for this match as we believe that Khachanov will beat the Frenchman and make it to the semi-finals of the 2020 Olympics. After such an emotional victory over Tsitsipas, Humbert needs time to recover, but he simply can't. Let's not forget about the difficult weather conditions in which they are playing. We suggest the following bets for the match: W1 for 1.90, ТO (23.5) for 1.833.
Other predictions
