Diaz Acosta, the right idea?

Zhang on clay and on the comeback, it leaves something to be desired. But let’s be careful!

I don’t want to take Lay Zhang that easily, I need some arguments on the other side. The Chinese player is chaining tournaments and gradually getting back to his level, but he’s still far from being able to deliver a perfect performance over three sets. For now, quite often, he starts his matches well, plays his big-hitter game and takes time away from his opponents. The clay at Roland suits him well because it amplifies the liveliness of his shots.

On the other side, a true clay-courter who’s coming back into form. I didn’t get the chance to see him in the qualies, but his wins there against hard-court style players, I really like that, just as I like his lefty touch into Zhang’s backhand and the weight he puts into his shots. I can hardly see Zhang holding up for 3 sets in a row with the discipline needed to keep firing rockets on the rise in 35-degree heat. The weather conditions favor clay specialists, and Diaz has recently shown that he’s ready to string matches together.

All that’s left is to check the odds...