What is Damir Džumhur capable of?

The Bosnian has set out to defend his semifinal here in Umag. He’s played two fairly convincing matches, especially the second one, because in the first there was no real opposition. He’s confirming the solid average level he’s shown in recent days. Now he’s facing a higher calibre of opponent, today in the form of Matteo Arnaldi. The Italian blew three match points in the second set against Federico Gomez. But it’s not easy to deal with the fire of the Argentinian, who really played without pressure and, at times, some very good tennis. I don’t find that scoreline alarming for the Italian. In terms of today’s match-up, I have in mind the Italian’s defence, which will be a strong asset for him. The Bosnian won’t have many options, other than to knit rallies together and wear the Italian down to bring him to the net and make him miss, and in any case force some aggressive phases. The other way around, that won’t work, that’s for sure. So I’m expecting Matteo to raise his level here on his best surface, after a first round that should have properly got him into the tournament. But there’s still that slightly fragile mental side with the Italian, which could make the match a bit trickier than it looks on paper, with possibly a three-setter. It’s quite tricky to find anything really appealing here at the current odds, in my opinion.