Did you get lost, Cobo?

But what’s Cobolli doing in this tournament? The Davis Cup is coming up, he’s guaranteed to be seeded at the Australian Open..

Really not a fan of seeing Cobolli here; he often complains about being tired or that the schedule is too intense, but when he could legitimately take a break, he doesn’t. Fine, but you’d better be motivated, man! That’s what worries me most—this season he’s been picking his tournaments and playing very well before basically giving away some matches; he’s often unpredictable, and here we’ve got reasons to think he could mail it in at any moment. I still have some hope of seeing him locked in—he played great in Vienna and then in Paris, ran into top players without disgracing himself, so maybe he felt he was in great form and wants to chase a title? The conditions should suit him too; I remember his dad saying last year that a slow indoor with a fairly high bounce was the perfect mix for his son, and that’s roughly what we’ve got this week—enough to see good Cobolli, normally. As for his first match, he’ll have to be ready right away because he’s playing his compatriot Sonego, who already had to battle hard today in his opener—he came back from way behind! He got caught off guard by Choinsky but regrouped well, and I felt from the second set on we saw a good Sonego. He likes this tournament, and a tight, hard-fought match to start is always nice; it might be Cobolli who has to force himself at some point in tomorrow’s match. But staying objective, I find Cobolli so good when he actually wants to play that he’s my favorite for this match; the problem is we can’t be 100% sure he’ll be all-in tomorrow. My feeling is that when Cobolli enters a small tournament, you have to be extra cautious, and here I’d be more inclined to take a shot on Sonego’s side.