Struffy's pussy

Maybe one of the best draws for the German, but he still has to win this match because Kopriva can also consider himself lucky with the draw!

It’s a fairly open match between two players who haven’t been at their best for a while, they’re looking for their game (especially Kopriva). The Czech had a hot stretch last year but he seems doomed to having to play his very best tennis to perform at the highest level, he doesn’t have a big serve or power to relieve the pressure, he has to battle constantly. I saw him in Auckland against Gaston and even in long rallies he seemed below his usual standards to me, quite a few big forehand errors and he was clearly frustrated as well.

For Struff there are a few positive points from the first tournaments: he’s getting through rounds and losing to good players without looking bad, it’s not his best version but he’s still dangerous because of his profile and also his mentality, and he often shines in Slams too (relatively speaking, but in general his level goes up). The match-up is almost a caricature: Struff is going to attack hard and move forward to the net, he’s going to use his power to take away Kopriva’s time. The Czech will play on the counter and try to limit errors to make his opponent implode. We’re on hard court and in that kind of battle I think Struff is in the better position; the poor quality of Kopriva’s serve won’t help him either. If I were Struff, I’d try a return-and-volley on every second serve on the forehand side...