Nuno Borges against the 241st in the world...

First day of the tournament and it starts strong with the best Portuguese of the moment! When we know the Portuguese fervor and patriotism, there is likely to be a great atmosphere on this public holiday...

Match conditions : R1 in 3rd rotation (~5 p.m.) at the center (Estadio Millenium). Beautiful clear spells, but with gusts up to 50 km/h

H2H : first confrontation

State of form : Lucas is coming back well at the moment and is coming off 2 qualifying matches. He's a good dirt player and has nothing to lose. Mistrust. Nuno is having an excellent season with the Australian Open and Phoenix as peaks of form. He arrives with confidence but a little less reference points on earth. He should not be confined to a tough player because he also has a good V/D ratio on land.

Comfort in the tournament: First participation for Lucas, 4ᵉ for Nuno who “only” 2 sixteenths. The Portuguese outperforms in 2021 by being close to beating Cilic and underperforms in 2023 with a first round defeat against Quentin Halys who disgusted him on serve

Match up : there is still a small level of gap between the two players for me. Lucas' average level is a little lower and he is precisely there to find playing time against the best. However, we know that Borges has difficulty against Arthur Fils who attacks him with his big topspin forehand. I think Lucas will have to come up with an intelligent aggressive strategy and use his playing time on earth to quickly take Nuno by the throat. But if there is wind as predicted, the local grinta will be favored, and Lucas' aggressiveness will be more difficult to put in place.

Personal opinion : potentially close match at least on one set with advantage to the local which has taken on a dimension this season