A miraculously surviving title holder

Ruud saved two match points in the previous round and can consider himself lucky to still be in the tournament!

Great strength of character from the Norwegian, who went down against a vintage Tsitsipas; the Greek imposed his game and I actually think it’s almost a bit of a steal that Ruud ends up winning this match. Careful, I’m not saying he didn’t play well, far from it, but there was a stronger player on the other side and we clearly saw what bothers Ruud. As soon as there’s good serving quality and a solid +1, it’s annoying for him because he can’t dictate the game and he’s really under pressure; in these fast conditions he got choked. Stefanos in form is seriously heavy stuff in terms of serve +1, I don’t think Blockx is as strong in that area even if the Belgian has been serving particularly well this week.

After taking out FAA he went on to beat Cerundolo, who was really comfortable in Madrid, a truly mature performance from the Belgian who was once again clinical and solid on his service games. This week he deserves to be priced quite low and taken seriously because he’s in form. There’s bound to be one match too many at some point, but physically it doesn’t look like he’s reaching his limit tomorrow, especially since he got an extra rest day. Ruud’s game, on the other hand, could really piss him off; if the Norwegian manages to be in control and make him work, then I’m team Ruud. But if we get a Blockx who’s still effective on his serve and inspired on return, then the rascal could very well pull it off again...