Hamad too short?

Medjedovic is a potential threat for ADM, but until when?

I have quite a few arguments in favor of Medjedovic but also so many against him… First, his serve quality, it’s a shot that protects him a lot and he can easily capitalize on it. Same for his power from the baseline, he’s capable of pushing ADM a meter behind the ball with one strike (it’s that unpredictable sometimes). He hits drop shots, can come forward to finish at the net, basically he has plenty of weapons at his disposal to come and challenge ADM. But everything I just mentioned completely runs into a wall: on the other side ADM is one of the best players in the world when it comes to court coverage, he can defend better than 98% of the tour. In other words, Medjedovic’s power can be absorbed, and the drop shots he throws around when he’s out of options, ADM will get to them 80% of the time. The conditions will also be a mixed bag for both: it’s not hot in Melbourne today and they’re playing late, which is better for Medjedovic in terms of heat but worse for his game style, because he needs to rush ADM and that won’t really help him. The Serb played a similar profile in the first round, but Navone lacks bite on serve and in rallies, areas where ADM is much stronger; the Australian is excellent on hard courts and generally excellent in Australia.

If we get the best version of Medjedovic, he’s absolutely capable of taking one or even two sets by playing razor-sharp tennis and denying ADM time, but that requires perfect tennis. Conversely, if ADM is perfect, he’s supposed to make him crack and have the edge physically and mentally; it’s still hard to picture him losing this match…