Nothing very original?

Between Hurkacz, the specialist in 5-set matches, and Munar the little rat, this is supposed to last a while

You’re never completely safe from a one-sided match or one that’s well managed on one side without any dip, but this one doesn’t really feel like it’s going to be that way. First because Hurkacz is used to marathon matches in Grand Slams, and on the other side we’ve got Munar, who’s always been a Grand Slam guy. The Spaniard often brings out his best tennis in these situations, and this format is something he loves, both for his physical game and his mentality – he’s still Spanish after all! In recent years he rarely loses to guys weaker than him, and he always shows great fighting spirit. He’s coming back well from his injury, he’s not perfect yet but he’s getting better and better. He was okay in Geneva even if I found him a bit tired, and a few days of rest will do him good before he gets started.

Hurkacz has played less recently, including a first-round loss in Rome where he completely missed his match, but before that things were looking better at Challenger level. I’m torn, because a good Hubi is great against Munar: he can scrape points on serve and he doesn’t shy away from baseline battles, but the Pole is generally not good in Grand Slams, or at least not at his best level. I don’t know if it’s mental or physical, but he has huge lapses and against an excellent clay-courter/defender that’s not very encouraging. I’ve already seen him completely implode and start doing anything and everything from a certain point on.

These kinds of matches are always tricky, and I keep replaying this one over and over in my head...