Khacha, can you believe it?

It’s true that for a while now, the Russian hasn’t been very satisfying. Even if he says he’s fighting to get back to his level and that he’s training, the content of his matches is still quite disappointing. Should this first round against the Australian Walton be enough to say that that’s it, he’s back? Not at all for me. I think Walton really allowed Khachanov to regain a bit of confidence in this match and that he was far too harmless for the Russian. But that would have been the case for many players. I’m still worried about the Russian and I need to see more. Will I see more today against Mensik? I think the advantage of having had this easy first round is that it can give the Russian a bit more confidence, and, when you think about it, he does have a bit more match time on clay than the Czech.

What I’m saying is also true on the Czech side, namely that I would need to see more as well. Even if he’s defending a quarter-final here, he comes in with only one match on clay. And that was against the big left-handed server Martin Dam, where he was able to make use of his counterpunching qualities rather than those of a clay-court specialist. So we only have a fairly strong hypothesis about the form of both players.

In terms of match-up, in the Indian Wells conditions, in their last match, and with a Russian in decent form, I understand that the match-up favored the Russian. On the other hand, at altitude, I’m a bit less sure. Even if I don’t think it’s that obvious, because I find the Russian lacks power. That was quite glaring in his match against the Spaniard Landaluce in Miami, notably because of his very closed forehand grip. And at altitude, with a high bounce, the topspin he puts on that shot can compensate for his lack of power. I also have to say that the quarter-final the Czech is defending here is a bit misleading, since he only beat attacking-style players and not clay-court specialists. So it’s quite a difficult match for me to analyze. Even though, from the outset, the Russian’s level has been worrying me for some time, I might need a bit more to click.