Routine R1 for Medjedovic?

The Serb is coming in with a lot of confidence and a solid level of play, everything should go smoothly, right?

I won’t lie to you, I’m really not feeling confident at all about the Serb for several reasons. The first is that on Sunday we’re talking about 30 degrees and heat is Medjedovic’s worst enemy; it bothers him a lot and that’s notably why he lost last year against Altmaier. He can completely blow up in mid‑air if the match drags on and it’s hot, that’s something to watch. Then of course there’s his physical condition, but for me that falls into the same category. The format is tricky and he already admitted it at the start of the season: managing his energy over that many sets is difficult, he’s improving but it’s still really not great at all. Big concern there.

The other reason is that he gets Hanfmann in the first round, and the German always likes to pull off a few little upsets when you’re not really expecting him. He’s experienced and has a good clay‑court game; it’s not amazing in terms of consistency, but he can really become a pain to play if he’s locked into his match. He played a great match against Darderi in Hamburg, but he was nonexistent on return, except that once again, if Medjedovic drops his intensity, his serve quality will drop too.

In terms of pure level I see Medjedovic clearly above; he can basically do everything better and in a best‑of‑three match I would’ve been on his side. But the format makes him less appealing for me, and we’re going to need quite a high price to make it worth the risk.