The Frenchman snapped his losing streak with a nice first-round win—great—but he’s still a bit short to beat Lehecka just yet, right?

Le français a cassé sa série noire avec une belle victoire au premier tour, trop bien mais il est encore un peu short pour déjà venir battre Lehecka non ?

We kinda figured the matchup was nice for Arthur in the first round, but it was hard to trust him after he retired in the previous tournament. He eased those worries and, more importantly, he played really well (even if McDo’s match was a disaster). The conditions suit him great, it’s fast, he can let his power and serve do the talking. He’ll have to keep that aggression tomorrow to stop Lehecka from dictating play—the Czech is too strong in that pattern. He hasn’t played since his Davis Cup wins without giving a reason; I think it was a deliberate choice. After a big US Open he rolled into Davis Cup and damn, he played so well there. I watched his two wins and I thought he was playing at a top-5 level. Serving lights-out, rock solid on the baseline—at the time I told myself he could do serious damage in the next tournaments. So here he is, nice and fresh, and I’ve got him as a big dark horse in this event. The only real question is whether he hits the ground running or needs a bit of time to get used to the conditions and all that. People see Halys as a super aggressive guy who can hold serve for a long stretch, but he’s got a ceiling—plus he can toss in doubles. I know backing Lehecka in a first round against a guy this dangerous in his wheelhouse isn’t easy, but I still can’t shake how massively impressed I was.