Under Michael’s sharp eye!

Tien needs to improve on clay, and who better than Michael Chang to help him in his quest?

It’s really not great clay-court Tien right now, I don’t even feel like he’s enjoying himself at the moment, but a win is a win! He clearly dominates Basavareddy in terms of level no matter the surface, so I’ll need a more convincing victory to believe he can actually play well on clay... The other issue on this surface is the physical side: Tien is already prone to huge level drops within matches, and on clay that’s going to be even more pronounced, which we saw in the first round where he dropped the second set badly before bouncing back. He’ll need to be more consistent from start to finish. His match tonight is interesting in many ways: he’s up against Burruchaga, who’s a real clay-court fox and is full of confidence, a big test for Tien!

Burruchaga has just pulled off something big by knocking out Nakashima in a high-level match. He also had his dip in the second set (he mainly threw away the last game, but otherwise it was fine), and he’s confirming that on clay you really have to factor him in. I’m a bit curious to see him against Tien, because the American plays an unusual game and can have interesting weapons against pure clay-courters, but if the long rallies take over and we’re headed for a 3-hour match, then there’s a strong chance Tien will get bogged down in a rhythm that doesn’t suit him.