First one!

First meeting between the two men and success for the Belgian in this Monte Carlo tournament. He deserves it and is facing players within his reach on this Monte Carlo clay. He will face Flavio Coboli, a crowd favorite in Monte Carlo, who was strongly supported in his match against the Argentinian Comezagna and will be even more so. The Italian is not necessarily in his best form, but the support of the crowd makes up for it a bit. Coboli is a clay-court player who struggles to make the difference within the rally. He was the one defending and winning points against the Argentinian, and the Belgian can do everything, including defend. I also watched him in his match against the Canadian Shapovalov and was surprised by his versatility despite his height. I did notice a few shortcomings, such as his ball toss, and he has a bit more trouble generating power, but he is young and very complete. However, he is still below the Italian’s level. Looking at the odds, I see that they’re interesting, without any major opportunities, except perhaps for the Italian’s win, which looks appealing. The match-up is hard to anticipate because both players are complete, and the Italian might fall into the trap of constantly having to dictate the play.