Fitness Test or Quick Demolition?

Will Munar be able to grind Novak down in these brutal conditions?

Well, it's certainly a question worth asking. Djokovic has not had an easy time in his first two matches, especially on return - generating just 5 breakpoints in 5 sets against Cilic and Hanfmann. On the other hand, he has been serving very well himself... but it becomes a game of smaller margins when he is unable to really make an impact on return. For Djokovic, the draw has really opened up to win this thing... There is no Alcaraz, Sinner is out, and Zverev is now out as well. It's very possible that this could "fire him up" a bit... It's not a grand slam, but I'm sure he would like winning another Masters, especially since it's going to be very hard to do so in the future, as long as one of Sinner or Alcaraz plays. We know that Munar has improved his serve and hard-court game a lot, but there should still be some more openings on return for Djokovic here. I think as long as this match doesn't drag on for too long, this matchup against Munar will actually suit Novak better (he has great stats against Counter Punchers). He will be able to dictate rallies a bit more and also come forward to finish points at the net a decent amount. I'm going to assume we see a very aggressive Djokovic here, and I also want to mention something that Munar said after beating Nishioka:

"It was very tough tonight. I haven’t been feeling great the last few days. Yesterday I took a day off to recover and didn’t know if I’d be able to come back and play like that today."

He might be fine, but this is a major concern if it's affecting him against Djokovic, cause the fitness aspect would normally be his biggest advantage here...