Grandpa Agut

Spanish is eternal, it is still at the top of its game

Very good Cincinnati tournament for Agut who was making his return to hard court. A first round was a bit sluggish, especially in the first set, then he stepped up, beat Norrie in the R2 and defended very, very well against Shelton. Nothing to say, he's still playing his matches in 2025 and remains a tough player to beat. Physically, he hasn't even shown any big signs; he's a metronome in every way. So I'm counting on him this week to put up some good fights, and historically, he's already had a super-performing summer here, but that was a long time ago! For his first round, he'll have to get rid of O'Connell. I like the Australian, but I have to admit that it's been complicated for weeks. Between physical problems and an insufficient level of play, he's been struggling. However, he just had a good first round against Safiullin. The match wasn't very high-level, and I think that with a stronger opponent, he would have jumped, Safiullin gave him the match. But hey, O’Connell did the job and he can also step up. As for the matchup, I have more confidence in Agut’s game; he makes fewer errors and should give less. O’Connell can hurt on serve and by projecting himself to the net, however, on more neutral rallies, he will be very good in the tough stuff.