Aussie duel!

Not a very sexy first round and yet I have quite a few things to say!

To start, let's talk about the latest Popyrin prints. Medjedovic, Navone, Altmaier and De Minaur, no free match, you surprise me that he is on four defeats in a row. Taking Kokkinakis is already more affordable especially on land, I think Popyrin manages the surface better. On the other hand at Roland he often jumps in the first round, not simple draws in general but we're not going to blame that every time. At H2H Kokkinakis leads 2/0 on hard courts and each time at the start of the year. We know that he is extremely motivated at the start of the season since he is playing at home and the Australian Open is coming up. He does not arrive with the same intentions at Roland-Garros on its worst surface, logically. So why is Kokkinakis rated so highly? He leads in H2H, is in better form, performs better at Roland. Because Popyrin is very often present in Grand Slams, there are players like that who systematically raise their level of play during Grand Slams. I also see the match up balancing a little more on earth, Kokkinakis will have to work a little more in the exchange, if the match starts to turn he can quickly get frustrated and start wanting to put too much on.