Bublik On a Mission?

Moutet in straight sets, followed by Fritz in straight sets...

Well, it wasn't a perfect match today against Fritz. He got himself in a few holes but managed to escape brilliantly with some good play and a few times due to some uncharismatic Fritz errors. Despite a tight opening set, it did feel like Bublik was the better player for the majority of the match. One of the biggest differences in the match was the backhands. Bublik went after that shot a lot more, which resulted in 12 BH winners / 12 unforced, whereas Fritz had 0/8. Apart from that, the drop shots worked quite nicely, constantly bringing Fritz toward the net, where he is not the most comfortable. I've been quite critical about ADM's level lately, but he delivered an absolute masterclass against Khachanov today. He had more unreturned serves than Khachanov, won 17/18 points at the net, and had a 13W/4 unforced ratio with his forehand. He was in complete control of the match from start to finish. Khachanov really struggled to hit winners past ADM or to pressure him enough. Mostly, it ended up with ADM working Khachanov around and injecting some nice pace into his shots at select moments, many of them skidding quite low, which Khachanov struggled with tremendously.

Bublik has a bad H2H record against players that are relentless at getting the ball back over and over (e.g, ADM and Medvedev), but it's important to notice that this was Bublik 1.0, who wasn't willing to dig deep and grind it out. ADM did an excellent job of neutralizing Khachanov, but it will be harder in this match. Bublik is not vulnerable to slices or low shots the same way Khachanov is, and he is also one of the best at generating his own pace from either wing. ADM most likely won't be able to have the same success at the net, since Bublik is much better at passing shots and lobs (Khachanov is probably one of the worst in this area). When Bublik is playing like this, he doesn't have a lot of weaknesses; he has so many tools to use, and the best way to beat him is to play like Sinner ;) Which means playing at a really high tempo while being extremely solid and having the ability to move Bublik around. Easier said than done, isn't it...?