A question that keeps coming up

A favorite Vallejo, is that normal? We’ve already asked ourselves that question in previous matches and the answer was...

It has to be said that the answer has often been: YES. The Paraguayan is having one hell of a season and doesn’t seem to be slowing down for now. He’s just made a Challenger final in Valencia even though the tournament was really strong! I see him play quite often now and I can’t say it’s anything monstrous, but it’s just super solid all the time; he doesn’t have crazy tennis but he works hard and if he has to put the ball back in the court 50 times every point, he’ll do it. He’s already pretty strong physically and full of desire/confidence, he’s a young guy on a great run who’s going to be really dangerous, especially in the heat! So yes, for me there are definitely reasons to see him as the favorite.

His opponent is Norrie, and it’s surprising to see the Brit as the underdog given his experience and his level of play this season, but if you take a closer look at his clay season you see a lot of clutch/realistic wins at the ends of tight matches or sets. He’s struggling to win in style because he also plays a kind of grinder tennis, but his physical condition isn’t as reliable as that of a real clay-court specialist. There was also a back scare in his last match in Geneva and unfortunately I don’t know how serious it is or not.

Careful, you definitely shouldn’t write Norrie off, because he also knows how to save himself for big tournaments, where he always shows up motivated. I think he’ll play well, but up against him there’s an annoying player to face who can wear him down physically...