Rhythm against Form

One player is lacking matches and the other one is badly out of form...

Zhang managed to pull off an epic win against Bu in his first match back. After that, it's been a bit rougher, straight-set losses to Svrcina and Atmane. Baez has not done anything of note since the Golden Swing; it's been a really weak season for him. It does feel like he is a bit limited with his "attributes" due to the overall style of tennis just becoming faster and more powerful. His last two wins were against two "old men", Carreno-Busta and Goffin. I do find he is playing better than his results show, but the huge amount of L's he has taken surely has messed with his confidence, and it affects him in key moments of the matches.

Zhang is the kind of player that Baez does not like to face; he really struggles with aggressive players. And Zhang prefers facing more defensive players (Solid Baseliners & Counterpunchers), so the matchup is good for Zhang, especially since it's on a medium-speed hardcourt and not on clay. So, this looks pretty tough for Baez? Well, at least he is facing a Zhang that is not at his best, and we saw how much he struggled against Svrcina (similar profile to Baez) in the second round in Hangzhou. That was his second match after a three-hour battle against Bu, though, so fatigue was a factor...