The hype is catching up with the ratings

Blockx is now going to be ranked like a top 20 player given the tournament he just had and... it's deserved

The Blockx tournament in Madrid is anything but a surprise or an exception, I think we’re really going to see him a lot at this level in the coming years given the quality of his tennis and everything he can do on a court. He can adapt to quite a few conditions/surfaces, his serve will hurt a bit less than in Madrid but he likes it when it’s slow so he can grind down his opponents, and he naturally has enough power to hit through the slowness of the courts, in other words I’m not worried about him this week. I’m not really worried about the back-to-back matches/handling the pressure either, he’s calm and stable, it should be fine. Another reassuring point is the draw!

I think he got one of the best draws possible, if not the best; whether in terms of form or match-up, Cina seems like the perfect opponent for Blockx. The Italian is seen as a young talent, he’s only 19 (two years younger than Blockx) but I’ve always had trouble getting on board with him and this season he’s clearly stagnating. You’re going to tell me he won another Challenger at the start of the year, but the Challenger was weak and it was on hard; here we’re on fairly slow clay which really doesn’t suit his game at all. He’s a talented player in every area but very erratic, I think he’s built to perform on fast surfaces. Blockx is going to have a blast returning against a young player who’s capable of imploding and totally lacking confidence; the crowd would have to save him, but even then Blockx is still a huge favorite in this match.