A delayed-action Cilic.

The Croatian took a long time to find his level in this first round, but now that he’s in the second round, we have to be wary of him, as always with him.

We all know those kinds of very sluggish tournament starts, where you win a match you probably weren’t supposed to win and you’re playing bad tennis. But as if by magic, from the second round on, everything clicks and you’re playing much better. That’s kind of what I’m afraid of tomorrow with Cilic, but it’s also why I’m wary of him. His first round was really disappointing, and I think that if it had been another player with a bit more mental toughness than Shapovalov, he would have lost almost every time. Cilic is still around and he’s got serious experience on grass. He can still go far this week, but he’s really going to have to raise his level and not mess up his start tomorrow against Borges.

Borges had far fewer problems winning his first-round match, taking it 6–4, 6–4 against Atmane. You can feel he has a better command of the surface than the Frenchman, and he’s also playing at a very high level right now. He’s a player we particularly like, and grass suits him perfectly. I find it’s a surface that helps him have time because, outside of the serve, this Hertogenbosch grass is incredibly slow. It has nothing to do with Stuttgart’s, for example, and that’s why I think Borges is a big dark horse this week. With his flat, skimming strokes and his level, he’s got some serious weapons.

A high-level match tomorrow, even if for me, Borges is the more likely to produce another very good performance, whereas Cilic hasn’t convinced me for several weeks now.