Shape crossover

Dzumhur is losing momentum this season while Buse is confirming his top-100 status

Injured for a long time at the start of the year, Buse has come back and immediately showed that he more than deserves his top 100 spot, even off clay. He’s still a young player but already so complete, he serves well and knows how to defend or attack, his game is really well-rounded and I especially love his mentality, a really strong prospect who will keep progressing but is already showing a seriously high level of play. A three-set loss to Hijikata last week before the Australian made his breakthrough, and a win over Wong in the final qualifying round yesterday, you can definitely say Buse is in form. I rate him very highly.

For Dzumhur it’s much more complicated, only two wins this year, including one where his opponent was injured, it’s dire. At Indian Wells he completely lost the plot in the wind, but there was also an excellent Fearnley that day, then in Cap Cana he took the first set against Wong before losing heavily. It’s kind of the same feeling every match: he doesn’t play too badly for a few games and then has a big lapse and totally falls apart, he’s no longer as hard to beat as he was last year.

First meeting between the two and I see in Buse a player strong enough from the baseline and mentally to get the better of Dzumhur. I’m not expecting a perfect match but I think in two, or even three sets, he’s the one who will end up winning.