On assignment at home

Vacherot is living a waking dream in his pet tournament; he wants to pull off the Shanghai trick again!

Even if this wasn’t a peak-form Musetti, you still have to praise Vacherot’s attitude and grit. The guy is really carving out a place for himself in the top 30 and is making the most of every week. He just took down Musetti on clay, that’s no small thing. Quality serve, solid game, moves forward, he’s complete and wants even more, he looks locked in and ready to go to war with the Monegasque fans who are really getting behind him (the little group). Another great opportunity for him tomorrow in this M1000 with Hurkacz to beat for a spot in the quarterfinals, he’s got to push himself and seize the chance.

Hurkacz is also taking advantage of a very soft draw to make his way back: Darderi, then Marozsan and Vacherot to reach the quarters would be a bit of a hold-up, but the main thing for the Pole is elsewhere, as he’s getting a bit of joy back after a horrible losing streak. I liked his two matches, really impactful on serve and solid enough from the baseline to blow his opponents away, he’s as annoying to beat as ever. No big performance yet though; for me, Vacherot is well above Marozsan and Darderi this week in these conditions, he serves better and his net play is interesting for cutting through Hurkacz’s defenses.

Huge opportunity for both guys, at first glance we’re heading for a tight match with two good servers, but in the rallies I feel like Vacherot is the one with more solutions to cool Hubi down.