As if it were obvious

VDZ took out the Brussels finalist 6/2 6/2, surprising, right?

Not really, no. We know VDZ by heart, but could we back him despite the MTO he took in qualies and Lehecka’s level this season? I find it tricky. Anyway, the guy played a great match on Centre Court, which I find slightly slower than Court 1 that plays insanely fast! He managed to get Lehecka into rallies and make him play enough by countering him, a match very similar to what he did against Fonseca last week, I think. After that he fizzled out against Spizzirri, and now he’s playing Opelka, who he already lost to in qualies a few days ago! 6-4 6-4 for the American, who took advantage of Court 1’s speed to hold serve and make VDZ tilt. I don’t have tomorrow’s schedule yet, but I assume this match will also be on Court 1 given the other fixtures. That greatly favors Opelka: the space behind the baseline isn’t as pronounced as on Centre Court and, as I said, the court speed varies a lot. VDZ won’t find it as easy as today to be present on return; I even think it’s a shitty matchup for the Dutchman who likes having rhythm across the net. With a choppy game that can tilt him, I don’t like it. That said, it’s VDZ—he can beat a lot of guys when he’s on, but we see him so often play one good match and then mess it up right after that this feels like yet another match where he lets everyone down.