Aslan back?

You never really know what to think of the level of Aslan Karatsev at the moment t. However, he was impressively easy during his 1ᵉʳ lap. Bode well against the Spanish hyena?

This year, Aslan does not make many matches (about forty), and alternates the series of first with some good results in particular in Madrid and Roland. It really seems like he places a lot more importance on really big tournaments. This year, in the 3 Grand Slams for example, he always loses against stronger players (Dimitrov, Tiafoe, Rublev). We then say to ourselves that he will play very well against Baena, an opponent well within his reach. You had to see his first lap too. Lehecka certainly a little disappointing in the final to Winston Salem and who perhaps also suffered a bit physically, could / should have put up a little resistance. But Aslan played his aggressive game, went to the net as soon as he could... The Czech is not the easiest to take by the throat. Small flat, always this little difficulty to conclude at the Russian. He had the same concern against Van Assche at Wimbledon.

As for Baena, true to himself. Very happy to have released Rune (you surprise me), his objective was clear: to make him play as much as possible. A little too planted 3 meters behind his line in the first two sets, he gradually got used to the power of a Rune which is still far from his best level since his defeat against Alcaraz at Wimbledon. The match up is rather clear: while Baena has beaten the Russian 3 times in 3 confrontations on clay, he seems less equipped for the conditions of the US Open... A little prono?