Like a fish in water!

Humbert and indoor tennis—it's a true love story; it's so natural for him to play in these conditions.

A very serious and disciplined match from Ugo against Opelka; it had trap-match written all over it, but he contained the American giant well and in the end it wasn’t as tough as advertised! He’s clearly been ramping up over the last few matches, and when Humbert plays like this there are very few who can beat him indoors. It’s excellent stuff, and I also find him clever in how he manages matches. This is a real test for Fokina; the Spaniard is nowhere near as comfortable indoors as the Frenchman usually is, but this season he’s motivated to play well every week and he makes a point of trying everything to get there. Even with an injured Ruud it was still good Fokina; he always has big issues being clinical in his matches—he wastes break points by the handful and can’t tighten up when needed, it’s all fire and brimstone. He too, when he’s in form, there are few players who can beat him on tour! He’s still chasing his first title, and being in the semifinals is a real big opportunity; you can count on him to go all-in. It’s 2–2 in the H2H, one indoor win each (okay, 2–1 Ugo but that was in Futures). I want to say that for once Fokina’s over-aggressiveness is a good thing against Ugo: you really shouldn’t let the Frenchman play his game, and Foki does that naturally—he really goes for it on return and plays at a crazy pace. I get the feeling it plays in his favor this time, but with Ugo still having the edge, whether mentally or in match management.