They’re inseparable now!

After Roland and Halle, we get another Marozsan/Kecmanovic.

I’m starting to know this matchup pretty well now. At first I thought Kecmanovic’s game style was way too compact and strong on the counter to make Marozsan crack, but the reality is a bit different. It’s actually Marozsan who’s more comfortable of the two in this matchup. The Hungarian likes to have the game in his hands and even if he forces it a few times, he’s really quite happy being the aggressor. Whether it was at Roland or in Halle, I didn’t see a Kecmanovic in control of the match, more in survival mode hoping Marozsan would collapse.

From what we’ve seen at the start of this tournament, I can’t say Kecmanovic looks better. He drops his set in R1 and yesterday he squeezed past Sonego by the skin of his teeth while he was getting hammered, not in control at all once again, and I still think he’s nowhere near his best physically.

Marozsan is also a bit sluggish, especially with match points saved in R1 and a very clinical win against Tabilo yesterday where everything was going his way. The difference is that his level is still clearly there; at least when I compare their matches, I feel like he’s slightly above.

The matchup hasn’t changed and the momentum seems to be on Marozsan’s side, as well as the matchup itself. Kecma can raise his level, but that’s not really the current trend…