Still holding up in Switzerland!

The American is playing his first final on clay in Geneva, and we all know how the story goes after a big tournament right before a Grand Slam…

A surprising week for Tien, who played some great tennis, but watch out for the follow-up; he’s far from being a physical beast, and I remember at the start of the year he had some big drops during his matches at the AO. If you add the heat, I really see a big warning sign on his side, especially after a full week in Switzerland where the conditions were perfect for him. That high-altitude clay helped him do damage with his loopy forehand while still playing aggressively whenever possible. I think on that kind of clay he’s excellent. Now we move on to Roland, where the bounce is lower and you have to work twice as hard in rallies – we’re back to proper, classic clay courts!

I’m less excited for him this week, and he’ll also have a tough opponent to handle. Garin is not Michelsen/Tsitsi/Bublik; we’re talking about a clay-courter who lives on this surface and will play in long patterns that are more problematic for Tien. Even if the Chilean hasn’t been good in the last few tournaments, we’re switching to Grand Slam mode, where he’s already done very well in the past. You can’t underestimate his experience in this format or his clay-court know-how. He’ll be 10 times fresher than Tien, and even if his talent is way below, that doesn’t matter as much here as it does elsewhere.