No time to mess around...

Tennis is so demanding. Barely after the Paris final ended, Félix has to learn from it and put those lessons into practice here in Turin, 8 days later.

And yes, that’s exactly what makes our work all the more interesting: no match is the same. We learned a lot about this matchup in the Paris final. It was Félix’s most complete match against Jannik since the latter became the indoor GOAT. The Canadian is getting closer to taking a set, and if he takes Jannik to three when the Italian isn’t physically flawless, then the odds shift a bit—but still not enough yet. If I had to keep three takeaways from this matchup, they’d be: 1) The difference still largely comes down to the gap in serve/return quality. 2) Félix’s backhand didn’t really falter in terms of unforced errors, but in terms of power there was a world of difference between his and Jannik’s (only 5% of Félix’s backhands topped 130 km/h versus 70% for Jannik). That allows the Italian to create the opening, whether with his backhand or by stepping around. 3) Félix’s performance was circumstantial. It came in a final, so on the back of matches that put Félix in optimal conditions in terms of rhythm and motivation, which, for me, can narrow the level gap. On top of that, Jannik wasn’t perfect physically after the Vienna run. Now we find him in his kingdom, in Turin, on a faster indoor court and with a week of rest. Félix will need to start this match much better than in Paris—that is, at 100% from the very first point to avoid getting broken right away and to put Jannik in a trickier situation. And above all, he’ll have to drastically raise his return level, because Jannik’s service games were very often one-way traffic, whereas Félix had to fight to hold his. Félix looked a bit downcast after the final; I think that motivates him even more to compete. He’s been able to analyze his opponent’s serve patterns with his excellent coach, and the gap will inevitably narrow. So for me, the analysis boils down to trying to guess whether Félix can raise his level in the key areas mentioned and go land an over 20 games and a +5 games handicap, which are what interest us here.