Who Can Stop Felix?

Two matches, two dominant wins against Zverev and Rublev... is ADM next?

"He's somebody that when he plays well, he plays really well. When he doesn't play well, he really doesn't play well."

Those were Zverev's words ahead of his match against FAA... and I guess we know which version he had to play against ;) Felix followed it up with a fantastic win against Rublev, so we have two consecutive straightforward wins against players who had dominated him in the past! Felix is indeed a player that relies heavily on form and confidence... the current version of Felix is flying around the court, with his BH holding up really well and serve + forehand doing some major damage. When he plays like this, he is a top player and a danger to everyone! High ceiling, low floor... indeed. I want to add that I really like the way he conducted himself on the court against Rublev; he was oozing calmness and confidence throughout the entire match. As for ADM, he could've just as well had a BYE the entire way to the quarterfinals. O'Connell (physically compromised), Mochizuki (not at ATP level), Altmaier (having played 10 hours), Riedi (fatigued)... good for him, but clearly one of the easiest ways to a Slam QF in a long time! I'm not sure this is a good thing for ADM... he hasn't really been tested yet.

I like this matchup for Felix! ADM is vulnerable to big hitters on faster courts; it's his biggest weakness! While he has improved his first serve, he has a low percentage of first serves in, and his second serve is vulnerable. And Felix has already faced Zverev and Rublev, two players who serve better... Felix's backhand tends to be his weakness, but it's held up well so far, and I haven't liked ADM's BH lately either; it's been leaking more errors than it usually does. I'm not sure ADM will be able to prolong rallies to really cause problems here; FAA has the power to finish points through his defenses. Another significant factor in this matchup is that FAA is not your typical "blast the ball" attacking player, who tends not to move as well. FAA is very athletic, so ADM does not have a major advantage there either. We have a H2H that is quite telling as well... ADM has won both matches on clay and FAA has won all three meetings on hardcourts. ADM is not bad on faster surfaces as well, but where he really excels is on slower surfaces against non-elite opponents, where they simply can't hit through him!