Arnaldi, here we go again!

We, who were starting to get used to his often close and epic matches, were a little scared when we saw his last 3 matches. But the Italian is definitely back, and as an outsider facing a Ruud whom he has already beaten, distrust is in order.

Our two protagonists here swept their opponent in the previous round. To succeed in sketching a probable scenario, let's analyze their only meeting. It was in Madrid last year. As you know, this tournament is at altitude so the ball flies and the game is accelerated. Ruud doesn't like powerful and aggressive players. However, the Italian serves well and has a good forehand trigger. Today, we are playing in Barcelona on a pitch known to be slow, but "lively", that is to say which bounces and slides. And Ruud is having a great season so far, I think. He himself is more aggressive with his forehand and starts beating guys who pissed him off before. Arnaldi's style could well bother him again, but the Italian has too many air holes. He would have to play a full match, something that doesn't happen often. Now, we have already seen him sublimate when he has nothing to lose, for example against Alcaraz. However, it's slightly different here I think because Ruud is certainly the favorite, but he has already beaten him, and that changes everything. We go from “that would be great, I have nothing to lose anyway” to “I would love to win a second time”. A somewhat tricky match so...