Points to defend!

Majchrzak was particularly impressive in this tournament last year, reaching the last 16. I’m not going to say he’s under enormous pressure, because he won a tournament beforehand and earned some points but...

That’s still 240 points to defend, and he’s only just reached his career-high ranking. He’s going to want to limit the damage this week, and I even think that beyond just damage control, he could build momentum and really play some good tennis. He’s extremely clever and his title in Hertoghenbosch is anything but a surprise. I’ll go even further and say that at Queen’s, he was unlucky to draw Lehecka in the first round, because even tired and facing a genuinely strong opponent, he wasn’t far from turning the match around. He’s an excellent player on this surface and, given the profiles he beat last year, I’m not all that worried going into this first round.

The comedown is pretty bitter for Tabilo, who seems a bit out of sorts at the moment, even if his two recent losses aren’t as bad as they look from the outside. His first defeat at Queen’s was against Hijikata. The Australian is simply unstoppable in this tournament and was also coming through qualifying. In other words, it was a trap, and that’s exactly how it played out. In Mallorca, he went down quite heavily against a very clinical Marozsan, who was also very lucky in that match, it has to be said. But should we downplay everything because of that? I don’t think so. I saw a Tabilo who was pretty absent in terms of attitude and even very annoyed at times, which is not a good sign for him. I’m wondering if we’re not at the start of a long dry spell for the Chilean, who already pulled the same trick a few years ago: playing very well at the start of the season and then being completely wiped out for the rest of the year. We’re not there yet, but it’s something to keep in mind.

There’s a clear difference in momentum but also in grass-court level, and that should be confirmed here. I’m not very hopeful about the odds; I think Majchrzak will be priced low, but if that’s not the case, I’ll jump on him.