Return successful!

Zhang took on his compatriot Bu for his first match in several months

I was really surprised by Zhang's level of play for his return, I didn't expect him to be so good over a whole match of this intensity. Impeccable on serve, really good in his attack choices, no I'm impressed by his performance but the hardest part remains to be done: to follow up. It's not the first time we see a player coming back from injury play a great match then collapse after because it's the follow up that is the most complicated to manage when you haven't had any rhythm for months. Especially since against him he has a LL who has nothing to lose and arrives in total relaxation mode. Svrcina has just beaten a bad Berrettini but what a match from his side, he read the Italian's serve well and absorbed his power, he's a small build who is quite clever and complete. He won't be out of place with a new style of play against him which will be focused on the serve and the power of the baseline. I liked his ability to hold on to break Berrettini and I think that with a similar match on his side he has everything to piss off Zhang who could also take the hit over time. The Chinese player is a finalist, I won't forget that, but he's coming back from a long injury and seeing him string together perfect matches seems unlikely to me.