Fritz really back?

Severely tested in his first two matches, the American defending champion has come through well and arrives here without any particular expectations...

And yeah, you have to adapt. In his defense, he’s playing two guys who are hotter than him on grass right now. It took some serious mental resistance from him to win those two matches. Hats off to him. He says everything’s fine, that he’s playing well, but that’s where I agree a bit less. At least for the first match. He’s going to face a Bublik who’s once again serious and motivated, who’s already beaten him 4 times in 7 meetings, but lost the one played on grass in 2022.

Given the serving quality of both players, this reeks of tie-breaks. And if Taylor just proved you have to kill him twice to beat him, I don’t forget that Bublik can be flawless when he has a clear goal in mind. When he was in the race for the Masters last season, he was very hard to beat because he really played every point flat out and saved his break points like a boss.

I think the Kazakh is just a bit ahead in his development on grass this season.

In their last meeting, Fritz wasn’t going all out. And in the 3 before that, Fritz won by a fairly comfortable margin. He’s more solid from the baseline and more clutch.

But as I said, I think he takes a bit more time than Bublik to hit his best level on this surface. If Bublik is too much of an underdog, I’ll consider his ML and/or an over.