The opportunist

Altmaier took advantage of a gassed Rinderknech and then of Gaston retiring when he was in trouble; the level is there, but he’s not exactly composed.

A bit torn between Altmaier’s good level and some serious opportunism too, I’m not sure he would’ve gotten through without Gaston’s injury today; the ball wasn’t coming off his racquet as cleanly. But he got lucky and won’t complain; that tricky match-up is behind him and now he’s up against a style that’s supposed to suit him better with Sonego. The Italian is more classic, with a big serve, a good forehand, and offensive tennis; stat-wise that looks nicer for Altmaier. On the other hand, we saw a damn good Sonego against Cobolli in a very smart role; I think he managed things a bit more than usual, made the opponent play more, and mainly wanted to avoid errors. A good pattern he can always pair with a more aggressive approach on his service games. I really like this version of Sonego, a higher level of play than usual. I’m also seeing good things from Altmaier in these last tournaments of the season and he’s very motivated; Metz is apparently not far from home for him, he’s dangerous. Not much to take from the H2H with two wins for Sonego, but the matches are too old to mean much. I see two players who can raise their level at indoor tournaments; they serve well and can play offensively or more on the return too; the margin is thin and I don’t see a big argument tipping the scales one way or the other, except for my personal feel from watching Sonego lately where I find him really strong. Altmaier doesn’t give me a bad impression at all, but let’s say I haven’t been as convinced..