The promised land?

Well, I admit I was waiting for his first match on clay to write this headline for you ;)

Moise Kouamé made a splash in Miami for his first Masters 1000 wild card. He beat Svajda despite cramping at the end of the match, then didn’t look out of place at all against a strong Lehecka. Closely followed and advised by Gasquet, it’s hard not to think of how Gasquet produced his first early exploits in Monte Carlo. In practice, Moise had absolutely nothing to be ashamed of next to Vacherot and Fonseca. That’s already a very good sign. I think he can adapt well to clay, but here anyway, against Humbert, that’s less of a factor. I think he’s capable of handling Ugo’s pace because he moves very well, and technically, he’s solid. And that’s mainly what he’ll be asked to do today. He’s already done justice to a wild card, even if you could sense a tiny bit of tension at times, but the guy already seems so mature. It’s pretty hot in Monte Carlo for Ugo, but Ugo has the backhand diagonal working in his favor because I find Moise better on the forehand side. Cerundolo managed to counter Ugo’s hyper-aggressiveness by being very aggressive himself. But here, I think the game plan will be clear on Kouamé’s side: push Ugo into making errors. Can we believe in it?