Jodar without any problem?

The Spaniard dropped a set, but he still seems too strong to be in any real danger in this third round.

Let’s be honest, Duckworth taking that set was a bit of a steal given how dominated he was. A 3–0 win for Jodar would’ve made a lot more sense based on how the match went. But he scared himself a bit and started to feel the first signs of cramp. I think he’s a guy who pays a lot of attention to that and kind of psychs himself out. Honestly, it feels like as soon as he feels the slightest thing, he panics and starts yelling at his team asking for stuff. But in the end, he manages his emotions and his body really well and finds a way to get going again. By the way, in the third and fourth sets, he didn’t show any sign of fatigue.

On Michelsen’s side, we’ve got a player who’s very good at managing his efforts, who’s just come through a match, but is starting to drop in intensity. He knows how to crank the intensity back up when needed and let it drop when it’s the right call. He had a real scare with his back at the end of the match against Bazzavaredi, and had to take an MTO and get a massage on court. I don’t know how much that will bother him in the next round, but physically, aside from the injury, I already find him pretty close to his limit in the early rounds. And there’s something else that worries me: the upcoming match-up. In the first two rounds, he had a fairly pleasant match-up where he was the aggressor and could exploit the lack of power from Shevchenko and Bazzavaredi, especially on serve but also in general play. Now, with Jodar being the opposite, Mikkelsen is going to get a bit of his own medicine. Naturally, I like him a lot less when he’s forced into a defensive role.