Moutet, the seeded player

That status is huge when you think about it!

The guy shows up just like that, chill. He played a doubles match to get used to the conditions, and he’s going to play his R2 as his first match (for the record, Learner Tien is now ranked higher than him after his final ;)). The Frenchman hit a bit of a lull in Hangzhou, with less sparkling tennis. But he bounced back in Beijing, and I’m expecting good Corentin here with conditions that suit his game and mindset. He’s facing the young Tien again, a player he’s already met twice this year. The first was at the AO, Learner was on fire. He was coming off the Next Gen Finals and was in vogue with Basavareddy. He had also just beaten Medvedev in 5 sets ;). The second was in Mallorca on grass, advantage Moutet, makes sense. In Shanghai today, you wonder if Tien can keep holding up physically for long. I was already worried against Kecma today, but the fennec held up damn well. No rest day, and you’re playing Coco in tropical conditions lol. Maybe enough to dent his resilience in the rallies? You don’t get Learner by attacking him. Coco will make him work, and I like that. You have to break the American’s mechanics, which are impeccable in that right/left counter/defense pattern. But front/back, different trajectories, a big smack all of a sudden. I want to believe in a big match, and therefore a physical edge for Moutet...