Watch out for the LL

Passaro won his first round with that famous LL status, beware

Deserved win for Passaro, who was much more diligent and patient from the baseline than Prizmic; he showed solidity, and in this kind of conditions that’s the most important thing. I’m having a bit of trouble figuring him out at the moment, he’s playing weird matches: one time he hits everything and sprays the court, and yesterday it was the opposite, he just played defensively for most of the match. He’s used to producing big runs at certain tournaments, we know he can catch fire, but I didn’t see the monstrous Passaro we need to be wary of. Is he going to turn into that tonight?

I’m a bit more convinced about what I think of Tabilo already; he’s been putting in the same level of performance from start to finish for a few matches now, and we can finally say he’s back! He keeps stressing that the conditions in Rio are extreme and that you have to be precise, stay low on your legs, and be strong mentally. That’s exactly what he is right now: he’s finding his best tennis again and, on top of that, he finally has a good physical reserve. After a quick first-round match and a rest day, he should be coming in with good freshness and a solid level of play already in place. I think that with his quality of serve and his current consistency from the baseline, he has all the tools to get the better of a far too unpredictable Passaro.