What are you cooking up for us, Big Foe?

No match since Houston and a back injury mentioned to explain that. Is Tiafoe actually injured, or was he just a bit lazy about playing on clay? In any case, he is in Rome and we’ll be keeping an eye on that.

I don’t know if it’s load management or a real injury, but Tiafoe needs to be careful with his preparation because he’s defending a lot of points at Roland Garros. This week is a chance to pick up points if he’s in good shape. The problem is that in Rome his record is pretty disastrous: three wins in seven appearances.

These are really not conditions he enjoys at all, even if I want to point out that on clay, he defends himself very well. He’s got spin on the forehand side and he’s still a solid baseliner, capable of hanging in there. No time to warm up, he immediately draws a nightmare opponent to face, named Buse.

The Peruvian keeps winning tough matches, but that’s in his DNA. He’s a very strong player mentally and shines over the long haul. I can’t say I find his level of play particularly impressive right now, but he’s an excellent player, super solid, who won’t crack from the baseline or mentally. That’s more than enough to stand up to Tiafoe and much more. I’ll add that he also practiced with Djokovic this week, which is always a plus for building confidence and generating extra motivation from training with a top player.

I don’t think Tiafoe will be outclassed, but it’s a comeback match for him against a player who’s in form, moving well, and quite simply the favorite in this matchup, in my opinion.