A real big domination?

Collignon is so much more confident and seems so much stronger than Popyrin right now that it feels a bit too easy to see him winning...

These two players are having completely different seasons. Popyrin has been hugely disappointing this year and only has 8 small wins, while Collignon already has 29. Sure, most of his wins are at Challenger level, but every time we see him on the main tour, he plays at a great level and fully deserves his ranking. The little unknown is seeing what he can do on grass, since it’s the surface he’s least comfortable on. But he’s coming through qualifying and I think Collignon is capable of playing well on it. He’s compact, low on his legs and comfortable at the net too. He’s got a bit of everything you need to play well on this surface, and I’m fairly confident.

Historically, Popyrin has never really excelled on grass. A long time ago, he strung together a few wins at Challenger level, but since then his performances have been really poor. When I look at his wins on this surface in recent years, there are very few matches that make me say: “Wow, that’s a really big performance.” And when that’s the case, it often ends with a 7–6 win in a deciding tie-break. He’s a player who seems better on slightly slower surfaces. He struggles to move on grass, and apart from his serve, his game doesn’t adapt well to this surface in my opinion. So yes, historically, he has more experience than Collignon, but that’s not everything. For me, he’s at a clearly lower level, and the playing conditions probably won’t suit Popyrin.