The tournament of a lifetime!

You could say this about both players—it's crazy to see them facing each other at this stage of the tournament.

I think it’s great when players break out during a tournament. With Vacherot everyone seemed happy, but this time I saw a lot of negativity on social media about this matchup. Sure, we could’ve had a “bigger” one, but the favorites just had to live up to their seeding! It’s completely logical and deserved to see Tabur AND Sachko in the quarters—they were the better players in their first and second rounds—and a special shoutout to Tabur, who came through qualifying, while Sachko is a LL. The Frenchman isn’t even playing out of his mind; he’s in his hardworking grinder mode, he digs deep, and every attack is sharper than usual. His average level has gone up, and you can tell he’s playing his best tennis. His win over Blockx was incredible after three tiebreaks. Physically, given his profile, I’m a bit worried since that’s his strength—even though obviously, the moment he runs out of gas he could completely fall apart because he doesn’t get many free points, on serve or in rallies. He still looked okay to me, so I don’t take that argument as important pre-match. As for Sachko, it’s just as crazy—he knocked out Bublik by clutching the first set and then tearing it up at the end to make the Kazakh unravel. He’s gutsy and he’s also playing out of his skin this week. Everything is better: a more impactful serve, a forehand that’s unusually solid and dictating. He’s upgraded his game in a few days and is playing the tennis of his life. It’s an even more special meeting since they already faced off in qualifying—Tabur won 5/7 6/3 6/2. I didn’t see the match, but I’m guessing the Frenchman’s solidity got the better of Sachko, who couldn’t find solutions? In any case, that’s how I picture this one: I like the Frenchman’s profile to counter him, but at the same time Sachko should play better than he did in qualies, so maybe…