You again, you scumbag.

VDZ is horrible to analyze, and even more so now that he’s LL.

A clean win over Fonseca followed by a 7/5 6/0 loss to Spizzirri—I can’t even say it’s surprising coming from VDZ. In his defense, he ran into a red-hot Spizzirri, but that doesn’t take away from the 6-0 he ate; he gives up too quickly. We saw him in qualies this week, he beat Bellucci (nice win) and lost 4 and 4 to Opelka, taking an MTO for a lower-body issue (don’t have more info). He leaves us in a tricky spot: on a good day he’s a great player, and I’d even say the match-up can get tricky for Lehecka given VDZ’s defensive quality. But for that he needs to be fit, in form, and Lehecka has to dip a bit—that’s a lot to ask if you’re thinking of backing him. Lehecka’s coming off a very good week in Brussels; he only lost to FAA, and in the final he can’t really blame himself given the Canadian’s level. I think Lehecka on fast indoor courts is genuinely high-level, and he’s learned to win without being brilliant, which can get him through tough matches! In other words, I don’t see many scenarios where VDZ beats him tomorrow, but since the Dutchman is capable of anything and you have to take him day by day, I strongly recommend watching this live to gauge his form and potentially look to back him if all the conditions line up.