So here we are again!

Same court, same players, same result?

Popyrin is defending a quarterfinal this week and yeah, he actually beat Ruud last year! He caught the Norwegian off guard on that Court des Princes by playing some really good tennis, and Ruud wasn’t great. I don’t know about you, but this Court des Princes seems a bit more favorable for profiles like Popyrin or a Rinderknech, for example. Ruud will want revenge, but he hasn’t been great this year either and he played the UTS; I’ll never understand the idea of playing every possible UTS instead of preparing properly. You can do it once or twice for the experience, but right before a Masters 1000 on your favorite surface, it’s a bit silly. After that, there’s no issue for him to adapt to clay since it’s so natural for him, but still.

Popyrin is coming from Houston, where he just played his first good tournament of the season, and it was vintage Popyrin! Impeccable serving on that clay, which is faster than Monte Carlo’s. He’ll get fewer free points this week, but we’ve already seen in the past that he really likes this tournament; he always plays good tennis here! With that strong run in Houston, he can come in and ride that confidence, taking advantage of a Ruud for whom this will officially be his first clay match of the year. On the main court, with the extra space, I think Ruud has enough time and room to stand far back and return, but on this Court des Princes it’s not so easy. I think he could struggle again this year.