Obvious result?

The Brazilian is playing so well...

Right, but with his playing style, Jakub Mensik can really unsettle that kind of player. Big serve and great counterpunching. And he's a real pain too in the short rallies, especially with a nice volley game.

But can he keep up the pace?

The Brazilian puts insane intensity into his matches. You get the feeling he looks at Guga at the end of every point like, "I'm going to go get this one for you, man."

And then, we tend to forget it, but Fonseca really is the best clay-court player. Or should I say: the clay-court player, full stop. And that matters, no doubt about it: trajectories, movement...

Where I might have been worried for Fonseca is that he could get shut down on the big points, knowing Mensik is really good in that area. But watching the Fonseca/Ruud match, apart from a dip from the Brazilian at the very end of set 3 (and a robbery of a call at the end of set 2), he was clearly the more clutch one, and the fresher one.

If Mensik were to win here, I’d still be pretty surprised. But careful, the guy has already made a Masters 1000 run. He’s exactly the kind of player who becomes more dangerous the further he goes in the draw.