And now?

A near-perfect match from our friend Kopriva against the Russian Rublev in his previous match. Impressive on serve, with 93% of points won behind his first serve in the first set. It’s really confirmation for a player who’s been playing well since the South American swing and who keeps backing it up despite a few dips in level here and there between some tournaments.

Here he is in Madrid, taking off like a rocket with a perfect first round against the Chinese Zhang to get him going in the tournament. And then that XXL performance against Rublev. Now we’re wondering if he’ll be able to keep this up after such a big performance. We know it’s sometimes hard to maintain the necessary stamina level. Still, this player looks so professional and especially so mission-focused that I believe in him. He rightly points out that it’s only his second ATP season on tour. And I like that situation because it gives us a player who’s still absolutely starving for success.

On the other side, we have a Frenchman who doesn’t disappoint on clay, who plays his matches properly, has improved on the surface, and only loses to stronger players than him.

Beyond Kopriva’s huge motivation, I’m thinking about the match-up here because he’s also a fine tactician, and I don’t see him being easily dragged into the Frenchman’s quick-strike patterns. Thanks to his craftiness, as I mentioned, but also because of his counterpunching profile. With his not-very-conventional technique, he plays smart and generally isn’t afraid of his opponent’s powerful shots, as shown by players like Darderi or Zhang whom he’s beaten very recently. I don’t agree with the odds here, and I think this player should be priced as the favorite. The gap in the odds would still be quite big. I’m counting on you to comment on this match and tell me what you think.