The JM poison

Nice little progression from JM Cerundolo, who has improved in level of play/weapons but is still a grinder at heart

Withdrawing from Indian Wells after his win over VDZ, JM Cerundolo hasn’t played since and that’s worrying, especially because we don’t know what the issue is – he hasn’t mentioned his injury. We know how good he can be on clay, and the altitude suits him since it gives him more power / his moonballs go higher; he already made a breakthrough in Gstaad last year, for example. I think he has an annoying profile for a lot of players, but the fact that he’s coming in without many reference points and without a match for a while is a huge red flag, because his game is based on resilience and physicality. If he hasn’t been able to train as much as possible, you really don’t want to be on his side.

In theory his game could really piss Majchrzak off; the Pole often gives the impression he couldn’t care less and, like VDZ, you kind of wonder if he’s a bit depressed on court, it’s very weird. The guy plays two great matches in Miami and then faces Halys for a spot in the last 16 of a Masters 1000 and completely threw away the second set. Yeah, Halys was playing great, but he gave up way too quickly. That’s why if JM Cerundolo drags him into a tricky 3‑hour match where he just hits moonballs, I’m a bit afraid Majchrzak might crack mentally. But it’s only the mental side that worries me, because JM’s game in itself is not really dangerous for Majchrzak. We saw against Halys that he hates being under pressure and forced into a defensive mode; that was also the case against Popyrin for example, or Mpetshi. The more the season goes on, the more I tell myself that this kind of profile is hell for him. When you look at his matches against Kecmanovic, Tien, or players who give him a bit more time to construct points, he excels: he’s a shrewd tactician in attack who also likes to finish at the net. So JM’s game could actually suit him too: he’ll have to take the initiative (to the extreme), but that’s not fundamentally a bad thing for him!