Etche must go beyond his role

The Argentine dominated Bergs and Jodar by maintaining rock-solid baseline consistency, but he’ll need a bit more than that against Paul

And yes, because Etcheverry’s strength lies in his ability to hang in there for hours, he doesn’t give away a single point for free and his grinding work always ends up paying off. That was the case against Bergs and then Jodar, two players who like to hit big forehands but both of whom cracked at the key moments/over the distance; Etcheverry wore them down before finishing them off. Not really a surprise when you know how impatient they are, which is less the case with Paul, especially if you add that the American has more experience and more weapons than Etche’s previous two opponents.

Paul just got himself out of a hell of a trap against Collignon, in a style just as annoying as what he’s about to face now. He came up against an excellent defender who also knows how to put pressure in the short rallies. He had a little dip in the second set, but nothing huge either: he gets broken once and can’t get the break back. The overall level of his match was excellent, great serving and some real guts in the key moments too, a good version of Paul who is still generally hard to trust, but this week the conditions suit him and he looks comfortable out there.

Given how he handled the match‑up against Collignon, I think he’s capable of putting in the same kind of performance tomorrow against Etcheverry, and whether it’s in 2 or 3 sets I have the feeling he’s going to win!