Mandatory passage

Svrcina hates grass and tries to stay as far away from it as possible.

Svrcina doesn’t have many matches on grass, and they’re all at Wimbledon. The Czech avoids playing on this surface as much as possible, but he knows he’ll still have to give it a shot at Wimbledon, because it’s kind of mandatory for the prize money and potential opportunities. We’re talking about a Grand Slam. I wonder why he doesn’t try to play more on this surface, because with his light and crafty profile, I think he could develop an interesting kind of tennis on grass. Maybe he doesn’t believe in himself, or simply just doesn’t feel like it.

He’s not particularly in form at the moment, he’s playing small tournaments without being impressive in them. He doesn’t often beat players better than him when he’s the underdog. I don’t really get the feeling that this is a trap for Tien here.

Tien L. made a very good impression in Halle, with a very tight loss against FAA, while showing a great level of play. He, too, has a light and mobile profile, and on top of that, a tennis IQ above average. It’s always a pleasure to watch him play, and I believe that on this type of surface, once again, he’s capable of beating good players. We’re looking at real talent here, someone who’s improving at lightning speed. I’m not really worried about the match-up; on the contrary, I like it when we can have the game in hand and dictate. He does everything a bit better than Svrcina, basically, even on serve, which is rare for him in general.

Not much else to add about this match-up; as you’ve understood, I don’t see any surprise here.