Mirror games

Both men work their opponents over with their power and topspin from the back of the court. Who will manage to impose his game?

It's already seriously on! We might be about to see a big, classic clay-court match just the way we like them.

I’d start by saying that what’s important for Cobolli in my opinion is that he won that first match against Atmane. The Italian has always played like crap here historically. Often tense, not comfortable. And his first match here was very encouraging. He made good use of the crowd’s energy.

On Tirante’s side, Marcos was right about the match-up against Norrie. The Argentine is in great form and is stringing together performances in tournaments that really suit his topspin (Houston, Madrid, Rome).

What people sometimes criticize him for, and this gives me a chance to link it to the match-up, is his inconsistency. I even think he plays better than Cobolli when he’s at his best, but his lapses are still too big / too frequent for him to be ranked where Cobolli is. In a clay-court match, he can play at a top-20 level without any problem. And right now, I think he’s closer to that level. What remains to be seen is whether playing a local guy with a fired-up crowd will make him tighten up a bit, or on the contrary, whether his current level of play will push Cobolli into making a few mistakes...