The best version of Shelton.

The American simply isn’t the same player in Grand Slams. It’ll take at least a very good Collignon to stop him.

Only one break point to save in his match against Merida, the young Spaniard who’s dangerous nonetheless. That sets the tone and reminds everyone that Shelton systematically raises his level of play and his motivation during these very special events for him. I also like the scheduling, which is around 4 p.m. and maybe with a bit of delay, closer to 5 p.m. That’s more pleasant and better suited to him given how fast the courts still are. As I said, I think he needs to be priced differently in Grand Slams compared to other tournaments.

Collignon has already shown himself to be very dangerous in Grand Slams, but he has so much less experience than Shelton. For now, he mostly shines on the Challenger Tour most of the time. I think he has his comfort zone and now needs to step up a gear. That starts with performances against this type of player in these events. He’s got the tennis, but I think he still lacks a bit of physical reserves, because he has some big drops in intensity within his matches. And even more so on clay, from what I can tell. He’s also sometimes very nervous and takes time to find his serve. I’ve seen him start matches doing anything on his second serve before adjusting. I’m a bit afraid he’ll get overrun by Shelton’s seriousness early on, before maybe finding his game and causing him problems.