SOS from a Shevy in distress

How can we trust Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko again after his recent struggles since his crushing defeat in Monte Carlo against Croatian Marin Cilic? There's a clear before and after Cilic for Alexander. While he was playing well, focused, and motivated, the day he faced Cilic, I was courtside and he was a shadow of his former self, even though the Croatian's game was bothering him. He still had the tools to do better. I thought it was simply an off day, as can happen in tennis. But then, he lost in qualifying in Munich against the local player Dedura, which didn't help matters. The draw was tough, so we can't blame him too much, but in his match in Madrid against a Munar who was returning from injury and not at his best, we saw a Kazakh who was clearly not himself. I didn't see his matches in Aix-en-Provence, but I get the impression he's improving a bit, even if he's not quite at his best yet. His opponent, the Argentinian Carabelli, is solid again. He has a ceiling on his ability against the very best players, but otherwise, he's a force to be reckoned with. His consistency, his physical condition, and his clay-court game, especially in Rome, a slower surface than in Madrid, will make him difficult to beat. He'll need to play a complete match, and I don't think Shevchenko is ready to do that just yet, even though he regained some confidence in Aix-en-Provence. We'll have to see what the odds say, but it looks like a very tough match, especially since the matchup is tricky for Shevchenko, who will also have to dictate play, which isn't his strongest suit.