The hyena

Muna wore down Fucsovics in his first-round victory; he'll be aiming for the same here against a Cobolli who's still hard to read.

Big fight from Munar to get past Fucsovics — he battled hard and knew he was the stronger one physically, his plan worked and his victory is deserved. Be careful not to play too much with fire when trailing, he came close to getting broken in the second set which would surely have sealed his defeat. First round won and now Cobolli awaits him; the Italian was up and down last week — he played an excellent match against Rublev before seriously falling apart against Tien afterwards. His end to the 2024 season was a complete disaster, he was exhausted and I’m still wary this time. I think he’ll pick his matches/tournaments and go all out in some, while giving the rest away. At a Masters 1000 where he’s seeded it’s a bit of a shame not to play flat out; I expect him to be fit and motivated especially for his first-round. With his style of play he has everything to beat Munar in my view — he has enough power on the forehand to take him on the pace on these fast courts! My doubts are about his desire and his physical condition if we go into a long, physical third set; in terms of tennis I give him the edge but not on the other aspects. So it’s hard to decide for sure — from a tennis standpoint I find him better and if his head and legs respond then he should win.