Mochi top 100!

That's it, he finally got it...

Breaking back into the top 100 after a long stretch of grinding can give you wings, as Vacherot showed us. But the Monegasque’s game has nothing to do with the Jap’s. That said, if this keeps up, this Almaty tournament is going to remind me of Tokyo 2023... Shintaro played the tournament of his life, beating Etche, Fritz, and Popy, before losing in the semis. Here, if we want to be realistic, we shouldn’t get carried away either. I remember a guy who was way more on fire in Tokyo. Here his wins are “rational.” And that brings us right to the debate we could’ve had with Darderi: is Michelsen’s power and aggression going to take the wind out of Shintaro’s sails?! Given Alex’s performance, I’m inclined to say yes. And if the American gets shaken during the match, when he’s like that he inspires confidence in finding solutions. Still, let’s not forget the guy’s only been playing well for two matches. We’ve got very little to go on, and Shintaro could drag him back into his bad habits with passing shots at the feet, chip-and-charge, serve/volley, etc. I love this guy’s tennis IQ, and I find it very tricky to call here... Let’s see the odds.