And now?

Félix is coming off a huge disappointment at Roland-Garros, where he could have played the tournament of his life. He has to start again in a humble way, I’d say, at a small ATP 250 on grass.

We felt Félix was quite down, and not like he usually is, after his defeat to Coboli. It’s true that he was comfortably ahead against the Italian before losing in the tie-break. And maybe once again it was mentally that he faltered. It’s a huge disappointment, and instead of taking a bit of time off, he wants to kick off his grass-court season right away. In theory, why not, but I’m reserving judgment. His track record on this surface isn’t bad, but it’s not exceptional either. I can see arguments both for and against. In my opinion, his game isn’t amazing on this surface, but his level and his qualities can still allow him to maintain a high enough standard.

He’s got a real test waiting for him as soon as he starts, against the tenacious Fucsovics. The Hungarian, who drifted through the clay-court season like a ghost, has just taken out Hurkacz in a match that was played over two days because of a rain interruption. He’s really a pain to play on grass: he serves well, returns better than average, has an excellent sliced backhand, is compact, and has fairly short backswings. He’s a player who raises his average level during this very particular part of the season. Simply put, he has a better record than Auger-Aliassime on this surface and he also has the advantage of already having found his rhythm.

Historically, between the two, it’s always tight: either we get three sets, or we get tie-breaks. I’m not really surprised because, as I said, one of Fucsovics M.’s qualities is his tenacity and his presence on return. If you manage to reduce the impact of Auger-Aliassime’s serve and contain him on the first few shots, then there’s a real opportunity. I have an even stronger feeling that if tomorrow he manages to get enough returns in play, then he can aim for more than just one set, because this grass in Hertogenbosch is actually quite slow, which I really don’t think is good at all for Félix.