Welcome back, Bublik

After winning the "Altitude Double", it was time for a vacation...

So yes, a well-deserved vacation... but it's time to get back to work! Bublik has stated his dislike for the Australian and US part of the calendar due to the hot weather and high humidity (something to keep in mind if he plays in those tournaments). Fortunately for him, the forecast looks a lot milder this year compared to last year, so the weather should not bother him that much. But yes, it's still his first match in a long time, so that has to be taken into account. Cilic himself has not played since Wimbledon, so he will have no advantage in having played more recently! Cilic has, however, proven that he is quite good at finding his tennis quickly or straight away after being away for a while. Playing in the USO should be favourable to Cilic; he has a fantastic past here, whereas Bublik has never really had any deep runs here.

As for the matchup, we have two huge servers with massive firepower. Bublik also has the ability to play most shots with his excellent variety; however, this is not always a positive, as it can sometimes lead to weird decisions and growing frustrations. When the drop shots are working, everything is good... but if not, things can spiral quickly! Cilic tends to focus more on executing the basics with a lot of power in his groundstrokes. It goes under the radar sometimes, but Bublik is a very underrated returner and pace absorber. He also moves really well for his height and has quite good prediction skills. So yes, he is a very complete player! That's why he has become such a force after deciding to play a bit more seriously and consistently ;) Cilic might be a tempting choice here, especially with the question marks surrounding Bublik ahead of his first match, and yes, that makes sense. Especially since we saw what Cilic did to Draper in Wimbledon, out of nowhere! A lot of it will depend on which version of Bublik we get to see. Despite his recent success, he still has his rants and outbursts...