The chef’s surprise!

Nobody expected to see Kovacevic beat Auger-Aliassime. Anyway, I really didn’t believe it would happen.

And yet, Kovacevic is used to this kind of performance in various tournaments. It’s obviously the biggest win of his career, but the American does pull off some nice performances from time to time. As I was saying yesterday when analyzing the match, he’s really improving this season, no matter the surface. He’s increasingly managing to stabilize his game and his attitude, which makes him a player capable of playing at a great level.

A nice quality of serve with a reliable forehand and a backhand that’s really coming along. I loved his match today, but the roof was closed as well, which made the conditions particularly good for his game. Tomorrow, we’ll have a center court that’s a bit less perfect and a roof that will be open all day, with a touch of wind. Conditions that are less favorable for him to play his very best, even if he should still put in a good performance.

Facing him this time, it’ll be a different profile in the form of Ugo Carabelli. The Argentinian took out Tiafoe in a good-quality match. He likes it when the ball doesn’t fly too much and he can hit hard with his forehand. He’s a player capable of making runs in certain tournaments and I find him really in form this week. To me, he’s clearly the favorite in this matchup, first because he’s better on clay and second because he’s good enough in defense and counterpunching to force Kovacevic to play one more ball. The American depends on short rallies and I really believe the Argentinian can make them long enough to come through.

It’s a fairly open match, but the trend is more towards seeing Ugo Carabelli come out on top.