Does anyone really believe that?

Very complicated match for the German in his first round against a Serbian who always plays good tennis and only cracks right at the end, but he definitely didn’t disgrace himself and I think it’s actually a pretty good win for the German in tricky conditions. He’s already lost fairly early as a favorite in home tournaments before, so this is rather good news for him. He keeps building his confidence little by little with matches he’s winning, even if the tennis level isn’t at its best, so that has to be seen as a positive factor. Of course, the big thing to manage will be the physical side, with Monte Carlo followed by a pretty tough first match here, especially in that third set against the Serbian, but the German is solid in that area and it’s not the Canadian Diallo who’s going to offer him a huge physical battle. The Canadian did his job in this first match where he didn’t really have to fight, since his opponent was a bit diminished. Still, we should note that he’s playing better than in his last two or three matches, but the surface doesn’t provide the best conditions for him. So there’s very little hope in a matchup that favors the German. We saw these two meet not so long ago at the Australian Open at the start of the year. The German struggled because he was just starting to transition to a more forward-moving game, and the Canadian Diallo was doing a good job passing him. It was hard for the German to volley properly and attack effectively in that first round at the Australian Open. Today, it’s different: he’s at home, on a slow surface, with a German who’s also gained confidence in his game, and facing a Canadian who, even if he got through the first round with more flair, still isn’t back to his best level yet. In short, not much hope here, so I’ll pass on this match.