My new protégé?

I backed Sachko in his first-round match against Mpetshi—are we going with him again?

Not for me this time! The Ukrainian played a really good match, but mostly it was Mpetshi who was really poor aside from the serve. Sachko deserves credit for going for it from the baseline—he could’ve fallen into the trap of just making the Frenchman play, but he took the initiative whenever possible with his forehand. I also liked the quality of his drop shots and his composure. With almost no real experience at main-tour events, he delivered in the first tiebreak and didn’t panic in the second either—a solid performance. Now it’s clearly a step up against Bublik. The Kazakh’s serve is a bit less dominant than Mpetshi’s (though you could argue it’s close since he won’t make as many errors behind it), and in the rallies there’s a world of difference. His motivation is always a talking point, especially at a late-season ATP 250, but this time we’re fairly convinced he’ll go all in. First, because he wants to get as close to the top 10 as possible (he can reach it by making the final if I’m not mistaken)—that’s a genuine goal for him. Second, what reassures me is that this season he’s already shown real desire at smaller tournaments—I’m thinking of his two 250 titles on clay after Wimbledon. Barring disaster, I can’t really see him not going all out in this tournament, especially since he avoids Mpetshi who could have frustrated him. Here the match is 100% on his racket, and Sachko does have limits that will be reached quickly.