Fancy seeing you here again!

They just played at the Birmingham Challenger, and it was Virtanen who came out on top with a magnificent score of 7-6, 6-7, 7-6, saving a match point.

I saw several parts of the match, but not all of it, given that there was a suspension and it was played over two days. The first thing to note in this encounter is that Virtanen really bothers Majchrzak a lot with his style of play. Whether it’s his quality of serve or his aggressiveness and the pace he puts on the ball, it’s not something the Pole likes. But I also want to say that Virtanen is only hanging on thanks to that. As soon as his serve doesn’t go in or the rally settles, Majchrzak has the advantage 100%. The Pole even had a set point in the first set before losing it in the tie-break. He also had a match point in the third set. This match was clearly tight and could have gone either way. A real coin flip.

So, what’s going to change? Honestly, not much. It’s often said that a rematch benefits the one who lost because he can make tactical adjustments, but we’re not on clay where a match can change a lot from one meeting to another. Here, we’re still on grass, with very stop-and-start play dictated by the servers. The only different thing for me in this remake is the fact that Virtanen particularly likes playing in Birmingham. He was the defending champion and perhaps had some extra motivation or, in any case, good memories there. That’s not the case in Hertogenbosch. And for me, Majchrzak will once again have an opportunity in this matchup.