Complete bluff?

Despite an MTO and the impression that he wasn't at 100%, FAA says he's not worried.

The Canadian has repeatedly said that his calf injury isn’t really a concern for tomorrow; that it’s nothing serious and it wasn’t what forced him to WO in Metz. I’m willing to believe him, but during his match against Sinner he showed signs of a slight discomfort, especially on serve—he told the physio he couldn’t push as hard as usual on serve. That’s his main weapon, and I wouldn’t take any risk backing him unless I’m sure he can handle three sets tomorrow without dropping off. I prefer to trust what I saw on court: a minor injury that could flare up again tomorrow. Game-wise it wasn’t bad at all—he did what he could against Sinner, and it should be a bit easier tomorrow; he should already get more free points on serve. In open play, Shelton is much more fragile and less complete than Sinner; there’s an opening even if the American played well in his first match. He needed a big set to settle in, but once he loosened up it was really good—he even deserved to take that second set with three missed chances in the TB. The conditions are ideal for him: it’s fast and the bounce kicks up fairly high. That’s good for FAA too, but it’s even better for Shelton with his kick serve and forehand. FAA leads Shelton 1–0, but that win was on clay in 2024; the American has improved a lot since then and I don’t see a disastrous matchup for him either. I think he can go toe to toe with FAA in this tournament, especially with the Canadian’s potential niggle. But even so, the margins are small given how quick center court is—the match looks tight between two excellent servers.