Age is Just a Number

Mannarino is having a fantastic end of the season, isn't he?

A 7-5, 7-6 win against Berrettini... but actually those numbers flatter Berrettini, he got absolutely smoked! Mannarino is playing with huge confidence, and the conditions are really good for him... watch out. Cerundolo had to face Tien after the Laver Cup, and I guess that now, in hindsight, the loss does not look as bad... Still, it was quite an ugly performance, especially from his backhand. I don't want to focus too much on that much; it was indeed a short turnaround with a lot of travel, and we know Cerundolo can show up to tournaments quite poorly when he is not "in the zone". Anyway, he's had some days since then and will be playing in the same country (not too much traveling), so I'm sure we can expect a sharper performance.

I find this matchup quite troublesome for Adrian, just a little bit similar to the one against Musetti (I know they are quite different, but bear with me). While he's not as solid as Musetti, he covers the court quite well, and his rally tolerance is still good, despite some occasional ugly dips. And when he can find moments to attack with the forehand, it's going to hurt. Cerundolo can be seen as quite error-prone, but his best matchup is actually against Counter Punchers (17-8 ML, +12.12u | 17-6 HCP, +10.08u). He also has a fantastic record in masters, a 41-24 HCP record for +14.34u (these stats are from 2022-present by the way). So yes, on paper... things look really good for Cerundolo. However, I do have some worries. Not having faced Mannarino's quirky game style before and facing a lefty that can target his backhand, those are the main ones. Musetti managed to beat Mannarino 6-3, 6-3, but I think it will be a bit harder for Francisco...