Machac got lost?

The Czech has dropped back down to 55th place, so of course he’s going to have to go back and play the ATP 250s again!

This Czech guy is really hard to read: between the fire tournaments like at the start of the year in Adelaide where you see a potential top-15 level in full flight, and the disappointing stretches where he’s half-injured, half-unmotivated, you really have to take him week by week. After a knee injury during the short indoor swing, he didn’t really convince in Miami, with a labored win over Nava and a very patchy match against Moutet. I think physically he’ll build himself back up and gain momentum, but I still doubt his motivation in this kind of tournament, especially in the early rounds. Clay is fine for him, he’s one of those players who calm down on the red dirt, he rushes less!

Jodar is exactly the same, and we saw it in the first round where he constructed his points more intelligently while still hitting hard whenever he could; his playing style works well here in these conditions. I like what he’s showing even if he still has big issues maintaining that level over several matches/tournaments. He looks good for now and will be 10x hungrier than Machac for sure, but if the Czech is feeling the ball well and plays his best tennis, then he’s better without a shadow of a doubt.

A nice matchup anyway, but it depends a lot on Machac! The stake will be small no matter who we go for.