Come here, my son

ADM is not the player you want to see in front of you when you're coming back from injury, really not.

Very nice performance from Fils in Montpellier, but we also saw against FAA that the step needed to be able to compete with the top players is still quite a long way off. We saw a very aggressive Fils, but with some waste in his game, which is normal given his lack of match play; that can be enough against standard players, much less so against the top guys. Tomorrow he’ll be facing the very best (or the worst, depending how you see it): the scooter De Minaur, the best footwork on tour, and on top of that in the slow conditions in Rotterdam. It looks like a very tough task for the Frenchman, too tough given his current form. He’ll probably manage to compete in phases during the match, but over the course of an entire match against this version of ADM, I think it’s too early and I really don’t see him getting through. On the hopeful side, Fils leads 2–0 in the H2H in 2024, but they’ve had very different trajectories since then.

ADM is coming off two straight finals here; the not-too-fast indoor conditions are perfect for him, so it will take a real exploit from Fils tomorrow, and as you’ve understood, I don’t believe in that.