Same as usual with Fran?
The Argentine is playing some damn good grass-court tennis and adapted very quickly. I do think he'll be facing his highest level of opposition so far with Arthur Fery on the other side of the net, but he definitely has the tools to win. Arthur is super mobile and counters really well with a very low center of gravity and great hands. But Arthur is the best version of himself when he takes the ball early and plays aggressively. And here, with the quality of Fran’s ball-striking, he’s going to have to spend a bit more time on the back foot.
And then, we know about the Argentine’s erratic side. Everything goes well, and then all of a sudden he gets frustrated and his game falls apart. Arthur knows this, and he’ll do everything he can to make him play as many balls as possible. That’s why I think the moneylines are factoring in this risk. Arthur has nothing to lose. It’s his first quarterfinal in the main draw of an ATP event. He’s playing at home.
To determine whether there’s value on the moneyline, I’m still missing one important ingredient. Arthur’s serve bothered Adrian Mannarino quite a bit in my opinion, but I’m assuming that was more due to the Frenchman’s lack of reading it than to Arthur having an outstanding serve. I say that because if his serve is a bit weak, he’ll be putting himself in trouble. But from what I remember, at the Australian Open, it was actually pretty good.


