Power or solidity?

Beautiful contrast of styles in this second round and a very in-form Navon.

Victory in 3 sets for Navone, who admitted he was a bit short on motivation when he started his campaign. After his week in Geneva, it wasn’t easy to follow up, but for me, he’s done the hardest part. He needed to refocus for this first round and avoid spending too much time on court. That’s done, and now he’s got a very interesting match coming up against Mensik. And given his level in recent weeks, I honestly think he’s just too good.

Mensik also had an easy first round, but still, the Czech somehow managed to tighten up at the end of the match while his opponent was completely cramped up. I’ll say I liked Mensik’s match, but it wasn’t anything amazing either. Right now, it looks like he can’t find his serving quality. I’ve said it several times already, but I don’t like it when he has to do too much of the play and the ball keeps coming back at him, which is exactly what he expects against Navone.

The match-up favors Navone in my opinion, as he really has genuine qualities to play from the baseline while staying solid. He’s truly built for this kind of long format. And let me remind you that Mensik in the heat is never a good combination. I kind of feel like this is the sort of match where the Czech is going to be forced to play far too many shots in every single point.