Another dangerous LL?

Halys has the profile of a dangerous guy on fast indoor courts, even more so now that he’s an LL.

So I watched Halys in the first round of qualies against Shevchenko and it was honestly a good match on both sides with few chances. Halys still isn’t at his best in terms of level, but mentally he fights hard and that’s what will help him pull through. But then I missed his loss to Remy Bertola, a player whose profile is usually favorable for Halys. I suspect a red-hot Bertola playing at home and not afraid of long rallies either; he must have made Quentin play enough to wear him down. Our Frenchman is a LL and will want to seize his chance tomorrow against Ruud, but he’s got a hell of a crappy draw given the monstrous level the Norwegian showed last week in Stockholm—he even played one of his best matches in the final. He says he’s figured out how to play better indoors, that he needs to go for it more and be aggressive; it was pretty clear against Humbert—he was really taking the initiative even on the backhand! After a title it’s not easy to back it up, but given the season he’s having I think he’s starving for more and will want to build on it. He just needs to adapt to the Basel conditions; it’s a much faster indoor than Stockholm, which isn’t ideal for Ruud. In Sweden he had time, which was perfect to push opponents back before taking control; here it’s a bit trickier. In any case, Halys is better prepared for this match in terms of the conditions—that’s his main asset—and he needs to be super aggressive so as not to let Ruud do whatever he wants. I don’t really believe in it, but I’ll make my pick based on the odds.