New challenge for the Duck!

The Australian is playing his best tennis of the season in Almaty. Time to capitalize!

Very close to world No. 100, which would mean direct qualification for the Australian Open, I can tell you the Duck is going to lay it all on the line here. Against a Cobolli who can still be mentally brittle, he’s going to smell blood... The Italian did the job against Hijikata, but as advertised, he had all the time in the world to dictate the rallies and run his opponent all over Kazakhstan. Another Aussie today—maybe Rinky passed some info to the Duck. In any case, the Duck has weapons Rinky didn’t, starting with the quality of his serve. He’s been hard to break this week, which is already a big plus. There’s also his slice to neutralize Cobolli’s forehand power and send back as many balls as possible to make him crack. The two have already met once at the US Open, and Cobolli had a clear advantage. But here, the conditions and motivations are different. Anyway, I don’t see any major red flags on the Duckworth side. Despite the gap in overall level, Cobolli doesn’t look in peak form and could leave some room on a set. Let’s see if the books have left us anything to chew on...