At your service!

A match that will probably be very serve-oriented. A little opening for Ugo?

And yeah, that’s the first thing to say here, I think, seeing the serving quality of these two players in these fast conditions. Yet they each got broken. Taylor explained that partly by the balls getting heavier, which makes the conditions a bit less quick. He also gave a key piece of info: normally he gets a lot of second serves back, but this time Valentin really bothered him with body-targeted serves. Otherwise, I found Taylor his usual solid self, but Val showed he’s definitely beatable. His game is a pain for Ugo—big serve + steady baseliner—but he’s quietly holding up physically, and he lost 4 and 2 to Carlito, albeit in much slower conditions. On Ugo’s side, he’s building momentum bit by bit. He’s hungry to play after a season marked by injuries. And fast indoor suits him perfectly. Over a set, he can sustain a very high level. They’ve already played twice, with Fritzou up 2–0, and it’s a pretty unsurprising matchup where the American does everything to make Ugo hit one more ball once the rally is on. The Frenchman nearly had him in Toronto. But Fritz is starting to build quite a reputation: he suffers, but he very often wins the tough matches.