New resolutions

First match of this 2026 season and we can definitely say Tiafoe isn't lacking ambition!

The American stopped fairly early in 2025 for several reasons, but the main one was that he wanted to take some time to work on his game and make sure he improved. He’s clearly stating his ambitions: he wants to win a Grand Slam and get back into the top 10. The road is long and I’m not sure he can get there, but we can expect a good season from him, or at least a good start to the year before he hits a wall, maybe? What interests us is his first match of the year tomorrow, and it’ll be against the local player Vukic, a guy who’s true to himself, always plays the same way with his weapons, and yet he’s always hard to beat. Big serve, aggressive game especially on the forehand side, a rather stiff flat backhand, nothing complicated but in itself that’s exactly the kind of game Tiafoe doesn’t really like. The American struggles against big servers and those who can make that famous “+1” work behind the serve. Vukic fits perfectly into that category and on top of that he’s used to the conditions since he’s local. Needless to say, Tiafoe will have to show the improvements in his game right away, otherwise he could once again get caught out by a type of player he doesn’t particularly enjoy facing. The most important angle is the serve on both sides: if Vukic gets fewer free points than usual, then Tiafoe will be a big favorite, because in the rallies he’s much better. The super fast playing conditions suit Vukic and his game, the Australian should normally perform well here and we should already expect a tight match in my opinion; I imagine a contest centered around service games with not too many chances for the returners.