The Survivor

Fokina was close to giving up during his match against Dzumhur, but he pulled off a hell of a comeback and comes into this second round relaxed.

Fokina really overheated in his first-round match. He wasn’t expecting such conditions. The Spaniard admitted he was close to retiring several times, but he wanted to keep fighting and try to believe in it. He changed strategy and went for a hyper-aggressive approach that worked perfectly, since he’s got above-average talent and ball striking. That’s what totally put Dzumhur off. The Bosnian was doing a good job keeping him pinned to the back by making him play one more shot, but he has so few offensive weapons that he constantly ended up on the back foot.

That’s where I’m a bit more hopeful for Tirante T, who already has genuinely good serving quality, but above all good power on the forehand side with aggression. He’s a clay-court player who doesn’t just sit back and wait, and that’s exactly what Dzumhur was missing to beat Fokina. So yes, the Spaniard says he’ll use his two days of rest to get back to 100% and start this match as if it were a new tournament, but it’s already been a few tournaments now where I find him completely spent after just one set. It wasn’t only because of the conditions, but rather because he’s still in a comeback phase.

Even though the Spaniard’s peak level is higher than Tirante’s, I feel he’s nowhere near his optimal form. And tomorrow, we’ll again have extreme conditions. I trust Tirante more in this kind of format. Even though I do think Fokina will play a good match.