REMAKE.

After facing off in Madrid, these two players meet again in Rome, under different circumstances. Will that be enough to change the outcome?

For those who missed their match in Madrid, Norrie won 7-5, 7-6, without facing a single break point in the whole match. But I don’t think that’s really representative of the match we watched. For several reasons. First, Tirante T. played very well and was really not far off. Seeing him take a set wouldn’t have been undeserved. And I also think Norrie had a bit more luck in the key moments, to the point of really frustrating Tirante T. several times.

In the end, the Argentinian only dropped his serve once, and on the rest of his service games, he was never really under pressure. It was quite a tight match, which is normal in Madrid, given that servers are at an advantage. I think the conditions suited both players.

Maybe even a bit more for Norrie, who thrives with this mix of clay and high bounces. You can clearly see that in Rome, his results are not as good as in Madrid. Which makes sense.

He’s a grinder, but let’s not forget that he still likes to take control of the points with his forehand. His lack of power is somewhat masked in Madrid. I think in Rome he’ll have a bit more trouble finishing points. But once again, he’ll be very hard to beat.

To get back to Tirante T’s first-round match, which might worry some people, I have to say that his opponent Cadenasso played like hardened steel for more than a set and a half before completely collapsing. Even if Tirante wasn’t exceptional on his side, there wasn’t much you could hold against him either, given how high his opponent’s level was. In the end, he served well and did damage with his forehand side, but his backhand is still his weakest shot, and before facing a lefty, that can be a concern.