Never two without three.

Mr. Baez is a two-time defending champion in Rio; I think we can say he likes the conditions, right?

He must be a bit gutted to be performing here but rarely in Buenos Aires, poor guy. The conditions are different and so much better for him here, the bounce is lower, it’s more humid and heavy so he can totally play his game without getting caught out too much. A guy like Carabelli says he also loves the conditions here, I see the similarity with him since they both like to unload on the forehand and then grind from the baseline. Honestly Baez played well in Buenos but he cracked against Darderi, who really annoys him too much on this kind of clay. Baez still showed a good level with a more aggressive, forward-moving game, which he’s been putting in place at the start of this season. In his first round he’ll face Faria, another LL who got caught out by the local Marcondes, who was just on fire. Before that he beat Jarry without shining; I like Faria but to me he’d actually be more comfortable in the Buenos conditions, whereas here it seems pretty hard to picture him coming in and knocking off the two-time defending champion…