Is Carlito beatable?

People often say that Carlito’s first match in a tournament is his opponents’ best chance to do something against him. Is that true?

Well... 14 tournaments played this season. Five first rounds in which he dropped a set: VDZ, Goffin, Cerundolo, Fognini, Dzumhur. The Spaniard skipped a 500 last week after his loss at the Six Kings Slam, as you probably know. He admits he likes the conditions here in Paris, because they’re slower than in Bercy. And I completely agree with him. I also saw some footage of his practice with Arthur Rinderknech. They played a practice set that he lost 7/6, playing fairly relaxed. That’s his style, you shouldn’t read too much into it in my opinion. On the other hand, Norrie also likes these conditions. They let him do his grinding, as they say. And they could be perfect for asking the right questions of Carlito, namely: "Can you dictate play and come forward to finish points with enough consistency?" After all, Carlito has never done well at this Paris tournament, and he’s already lost twice to Norrie. Yes, but Bercy was faster as I said, and his losses to Norrie are a bit misleading. I really like the rest he took before playing here, and I don’t think I’ll be taking anything on Norrie’s side, but let’s check the odds anyway.