This time, will Altmaier go all the way?

Last week in Stuttgart, Altmaier managed to take a set off Tiafoe, but nothing more. Will he manage to get the job done this time?

Having watched their match in Stuttgart, I can say it was quite tight and Altmaier certainly didn’t disgrace himself in that encounter, showcasing his fine serving quality. I keep repeating all week that Tiafoe has poor return quality and that he’s like a sieve on first serve, but that’s the case all the time. He took more than 20 aces against Aliassime again today and was really non-existent on return. It was the same against Altmaier, where he took around fifteen aces last week. And for that reason, he wasn’t able to be sharp enough on return. That’s still what worries me in this matchup. I think that in terms of pure level of play, once you take the serve out of the equation, Tiafoe is really playing at a very high level this week, but he is too often handicapped by his returning ability.

Altmaier is continuing his new love affair with grass, with the addition of Dustin Brown to his team, which allows him to perform better and understand how to play on this surface. He’s just notched a win over Daniil Medvedev and is truly having an incredible week. He’s particularly dangerous when he’s motivated and playing at home, which is obviously the case this week. We’re talking about a semifinal and potentially the best week of his career. He’ll once again be ready tomorrow to give his life on the court and to sell his skin very dearly.

I think we’re going to get a match similar to what we saw last week: Tiafoe dominating once the rally starts, but Altmaier perhaps managing to hold and win his service games by serving very well. It’s a bit hard for me to call this one because I feel like Tiafoe can really dominate and, with a bit of ruthlessness, he could win in 2 sets easily, but his odds are really very low. And on the other hand, Altmaier is going to have to rely heavily on his first serve to get through this, because in open play, Tiafoe is simply the better player.