A match that's set to last...

That's what we’d already said during their respective first rounds, and yet it ended up being super short on both sides.

Borges surprised everyone by beating Echeverry in a really well-managed match. He played well, but Echeverry completely blew it. The Portuguese is much stronger in Grand Slams, but that’s nothing new. We have to respect him this week, because he’s got a hell of a mentality. He can come back in matches and play good tennis even on clay.

For Kecmanovic, his first-round win is less of a surprise. He was the favorite against Marozsan, but even he didn’t expect to win 3–0. He’s on a good run after his Challenger title in Valencia. We can also categorize him as a Grand Slam player. He always shows up and excels in long-format performances, even if I felt he was affected by the heat. He was lucky that Marozsan was even more affected, because for me, Kecma was really about to start dropping in intensity.

Historically, it’s tight between the two, and I expected nothing less, since they are extremely tough and strong from the baseline, able to defend but also comfortable playing offensively. I wouldn’t say it’s a mirror match-up, but they still have a lot of similarities. After the two first-round flops, I think this time we’ll really get the battle we were supposed to see.