Deciding TB?

Mpetshi has to rely on tie-breaks to get through; he still hasn’t broken his opponents, yet he’s the one who’s winning.

You can't fault Mpetshi for fighting for his matches; after Paul, it was against Hijikata that he was most active in the tiebreaks, really going for it. He likes the conditions, says the courts are very fast and he feels good, and no wonder, with his quality of serve, he thrives when the court is this reactive. I still have trouble trusting him, though. He's been broken twice and hasn't managed a single break of his own. His wins always come down to tiebreaks, and at some point, he won't be as clutch. On the other side, Kovacevic had a solid serving performance against Norrie; if he serves with the same quality, he won't be in trouble very often. He also likes fast conditions; he'd already shown promise indoors, and here he proves again that he can be a threat when his serve and forehand click well together. His backhand is holding up, but with Giovanni's spin and powerful serve, he's going to have a hard time keeping up. It's the same for Gio with his backhand, indeed. The match looks set to be another close one (what a surprise), we know Mpetshi can go far when he starts a tournament like this, but Kova has already proven that too!