Meh, not convinced...

Another on-and-off match from Tien in the first round, I'm really not feeling it right now with his level.

He came really close to going out, little Tien. He got pushed around by Giron, who led 2 sets to 1 with a break in the fourth set as well... Tien was excellent in stretches but also really bad over two full sets; he had a physical dip starting about a set and a half in, then found some energy again two games before getting knocked out. He played the best serving match of his career with 21 aces, which is also what saved him. We can hope for him to raise his level after a tricky match, that’s totally possible, just as it’s possible he plays in patches again and gets caught out by a Shevchenko who’s been on fire at the start of this year. The Kazakh really battled in the first round; physically he held up against a Ymer who was cooked by the end of the match. His match was average, I won’t lie: he had some good sequences, but his net game was dreadful. The game plan is to move forward again against Tien, but I hope he worked on his volleys yesterday. I like the Kazakh’s energy, he always fights hard and loves big battles, but his stats against lefties and solid baseliners like Tien are bad. The American is supposed to have a nice edge in terms of match-up and conditions; it’s just how sluggish his start to the year has been that worries me, because normally he wins this match quite often. Shevy could possibly catch fire for a set or take advantage of a dip from Tien, but over the long haul I don’t think he’s got the weapons to get through it.