The First Round Riddle

Mpetshi Perricard's level varies greatly from tournament to tournament...

And it's really hard to know which version you will get! It feels like he is extra-sensitive to conditions... cause if his game is not clicking, it's really bad, even with that huge serve! Then you have other matches where he can rally like Djokovic as well ;) which, combined with his huge weapons, makes him dangerous! Apart from a good run to the semifinals in Winston-Salem (not the hardest path there), he has really been struggling lately - a lot of first-round eliminations. His last match was a four-set loss against Musetti in the US Open, where he ultimately did not stand a chance, especially once he started to struggle physically. Misolic has had an outstanding clay season, which catapulted him onto the main tour. He has not achieved anything notable since then, with his last match being a 7-6, 7-6 loss to Kovacevic in the first round of the Winston-Salem tournament. Misolic was trying to enter USO as the first alternate but never got in, not going the qualifying route. He also recently pulled out of the Davis Cup for Austria due to illness.

And we have to start from there, with the fact that Misolic has played a lot of matches this season - 70 already (GMP has played 36). It's true that Misolic was able to win many of his matches in easy straight sets in Challengers, especially, but there were still a lot of tough three-setters that surely took a toll physically. He does not have a lot of points to defend for this part of the year (barely any at all), which can be viewed in two different ways: a chance for him to grab some more points and improve his ranking even more... OR a chance for him to rest up a bit for the last months of the season with conditions that might not suit him the best (fast outdoor HC in Asia and indoor HC in Europe). As for this specific match, I think we see a good fight from Misolic, if the illness is not still lingering! He gets straight into the main draw here, and he is playing against someone who won't require him to exert himself all too much physically. Yes, the faster conditions surely benefit Mpetshi more, but his game can be really off in altitude (500m~), especially in the first round. It was very visible in Madrid; he could not find the court at all... although being on a much faster hardcourt here will help him. Misolic does not have a lot of experience on (altitude) hardcourt, but he has played some good matches in Kitzbuhel, which is a good sign at least! I actually prefer this kind of matchup for him currently on hardcourt (compared to a tricky counter puncher or so), as long as he can manage to keep his own serve well against a very poor returner!