Old-school style!

What if Basilashvili pulled off his famous Doha 2021 move again?

Basilashvili is one of those rare players you always have to consider dangerous as soon as he starts winning several matches. This guy has fire in his arm and, on a good week, he’s capable of competing with anyone. He’s already shown that in the past. And right now, he’s in very good form with four wins already. This week, the fairly slow clay suits him perfectly.

We all feel like getting carried away, but I’m going to tone it down just a little and play devil’s advocate, because we also need to stay as objective as possible. But I have to say that Shelton is mostly a name rather than a real level on clay. The American was disappointing, but that takes nothing away from Basilashvili’s match, as he was the better player and wouldn’t have stolen a straight-sets win.

He’s going to have to beat another American, in the form of Nakashima. It’s a name that doesn’t sound as big, but in my opinion, it comes with a much more stable level of play and clay-court tennis than Shelton’s. Nakashima is a kind of metronome who really doesn’t make many errors, without just pushing the ball back. He maintains genuinely good serving quality and has a good mentality. He’s a calm, composed player.

On the other hand, it’s not exceptional as such. He’s a good, solid player, but one who sometimes loses to opponents worse than him, so that’s not a guarantee either. He’s already lost to Basilashvili last year on clay, getting properly outplayed.

The momentum and the real danger will come from Basilashvili’s side, but Nakashima knows how to resist and stay on course. Who’s going to come out on top?