Toby in at the deep end

After his great run through qualifying to reach the Roland Garros main draw, here he is thrown straight to the wolves against Mensik thanks to a WC

And yes, that wakes you up! Mensik is just coming off a semifinal at Roland. Enough to give you a nice boost of confidence, right? The Czech above all needs to find his footing on grass, and fast, because Toby Samuel, on the other hand, has played quite a few matches on this surface. And we mustn’t forget that when it comes to injuries, you’re never completely safe with the Czech. On the other hand, he’s of course trying to be at his best at the big events. The injuries from the clay season seem to be behind him.

Toby, for his part, played some very good matches in Eastbourne. He’s got serious quality in his game, and it’s very well suited to grass. He serves really well, often and smoothly rushes the net. He very often has a clear intention behind his shots from the baseline. His goal: gain ground. Even if it means making an error, it’s not a big deal. You have to suffocate the opponent. In general, we quite like this kind of profile for Mensik, who counterpunches extremely well from the back. And then, Toby, when it comes to handling the important moments, he’s not quite there yet. He still tightens up too much. So… a shame.