The brawl!

If Tirante gives us a Grand Slam kind of match like he knows how to do, we could have a crazy good match here...

Two earthlings on a good outer court in the blazing sun: that’s it, we’re definitely at Roland!

On the other hand, I don’t want to spoil the party, but Tirante played a poor-quality match in Geneva with some discomfort in his left arm. Result: serve way off, and little resistance against Rinderknech. Considering he was coming off a good Madrid + Rome, it’s a bit worrying. If everything’s fine, he’s got what it takes to play really well here with the lively conditions. We’ll quickly see it on the serve and backhand anyway.

On Llamas’s side, the guy is following up on his excellent Rome, but I find he was a bit lucky with the draw here in qualifying. That doesn’t change the fact that he’s at 20 wins for 5 losses on clay this season, and he arrives full of confidence and used to the conditions. I also really like how humble the guy is.

In terms of match‑up, I also like his calm side against Tirante’s fiery style. It makes him more consistent within his matches. He’s quite a complete player, and we’ve recently seen with Medvedev that to beat the Argentine, there are mainly two things: the backhand diagonal and the return of serve. Combined with this consistency, that makes Llamas Ruiz a very strong contender for the win. Why not even the favorite, given the risk of injury for the Argentine?

Physically, three quick matches in mild weather for the first two and a rest day between each one, it should be fine for the Spaniard...