Ugo Carabelli, always the same story?

Fit or not fit for the Argentinian?

As Sonny said in a previous analysis, Carabelli seems diminished but he stubbornly keeps playing. After a match where he seemed a bit injured against Tien, he played a very poor match against Tabilo in Auckland. Beyond the level of play, what’s worrying is the overall feeling about the player. In Auckland he didn’t have the fighting spirit we know him for, maybe yet another sign that he doesn’t feel fully capable of being competitive. And now he has to play a best‑of‑five match, and not against just anyone, but against a Hungarian bull.

Decent start to the season for Fucso who, like everyone else, took the hit from Daniil’s comeback in Brisbane before having a solid tournament in Adelaide with a win over Quinn and an average loss to Shevchenko, who causes him plenty of problems. I watched the matches and this time he looks fully ready physically, with a good attitude.

Fucsovics’s odds are logically very low and in this match everything comes down to whether you believe we’ll see a fit Carabelli, because he has shown that even on hard court he’s capable of resisting very good opponents. Since Fucsovics is neither a star nor a model of consistency, you could consider bets in favor of the Argentinian… if you believed in him, which I don’t. Despite the high odds, I don’t have any arguments or certainties suggesting a return to form, especially in a long format.