The advantage of the qualifier?

Having absolutely no news about our friend Marcos Giron during the off-season apart from his funny stories on the plane or with his temporary coach Constant Lestienne, I’m going to take this match with a grain of salt!

And yeah, especially since we were expecting a slightly sharper Marcos at the end of the season in indoor conditions with the low bounce. He wasn’t playing that badly, but something was missing. I don’t know if it was mental fatigue, the coaching change... But the American missed BOTH his US summer swing in July/August AND the indoor season at the end of the year. You could even say he missed his grass season too. Normally, that’s where he racks up points. Maybe we got a bit carried away with his 2024 season, when he won the first title of his career in Newport. In any case, if his game hasn’t completely vanished and he’s still a pain to deal with for a lot of guys, the break could actually do him good in terms of wear and tear. On the Serbian side, you have to be careful. Two solid matches in qualies, despite his underdog status against the tough Emilio Nava. Bothered by injuries in 2025, Djere seems better at the start of this season, and we know very well he can be dangerous on hard. A dangerous counterpuncher, he’s a bit less effective when it comes to injecting pace into a neutral ball. I know Marcos inside out, he can do both: attack with his low, skidding trajectories from the back of the court, and also make you play. Honestly, it’s really hard for me to analyze this match without knowing Marcos’ current level. I’d tend to say he might need a bit of time to really get going again with few wins at the very start of the season, but his opponents were tough and he’s playing a lot back-to-back after Australia. I think I’m going to play it safe here with a fairly obvious bet...