Not Bordeaux This Time

Shev and GMP have faced two times, 2024 and 2025, in CH Bordeaux...

Shevchenko's year has not been great, but it feels like he is improving. He has had a few injuries in the last tournaments, which have limited him somewhat, but he has still managed to win a few matches in various tournaments, compared to being eliminated in the first rounds at the start of the year. He had a tough battle against Monfils, saving 11/11 BPs and fighting hard before Monfils had to retire due to an ankle injury at the start of the third set. Mpetshi Perricard had a rather bad first set against Misolic before making a comeback. He won the second set 6-1, and you might wonder if he has been having an intense boot camp with Djokovic to improve his returning? I fear not, Misolic played like he had "Rakia" in his water bottle after the first set. Both breaks were an absolute donation with a nice little mix of DFs, a lot of neutral FHs going long, and some questionable net play. And it's not like they were forced by GMP, it was just Misolic completely losing it! I will give GMP a bit of credit for putting some pressure on his second serves, forcing some DFs ;)

GMP did state that he likes the conditions, fast, and he also said that the bounce was high (good for balls getting in his strike zone). I'm not convinced by his display yet, though. He did improve as the match went on, but I want to attribute the result more to a complete collapse from Misolic. I haven't watched their meetings in Bordeaux CH, but I know that Shevchenko is someone who tends not to really play at his best in Challengers! And Mpetshi always gives it 100%, especially playing at home... nonetheless, it's not a bad thing for GMP. So, how does Shevchenko do against other big servers? He has decent stats, and I recall some good matches, especially on indoor hard courts. In Basel last year, he beat Fritz and took FAA to a third-set tiebreak. He does have an issue of being a bit streaky during matches, and that can become very costly in this kind of matchup...