Collignon does the double

The Belgian just played the final in Gstaad and is finding similar conditions again this week. The transition is quite straightforward compared to Altmaier, who is coming from Bastad.

Great week for Collignon, who fought hard until the end and notably pulled off a few comebacks in his recent wins. I can’t say he played at his best level, I’ve already seen him play much better, and I think the conditions weren’t ideal for him. Especially his second serve, which can quickly get away from him, and also in terms of his overall game, to be honest.

I found him very tired in the final and really impatient. He clearly blew up in the third set. I’ll keep an eye on him this week because I don’t think he’ll be very fresh.

Uneventful week for Altmaier in Bastad. The German did his job before losing, quite logically, to Darderi. His match was honestly decent, I’d say. Proof that he’s in a good period right now. And he’s already played well on clay too, so why not. My only small doubt is the altitude. I think it might bother him a bit, especially on the backhand side, where he’ll have to take the ball above shoulder height, but unlike a guy like Tsitsipas, Altmaier really has a huge-quality backhand, better than his forehand.

I think a good version of Collignon still has the weapons to counter and hurt a guy like Altmaier with his power, but it’s not certain we’ll get the best version of Collignon. You have to be careful, because it’s a first round and Altmaier is good at taking out seeds, and there’s also this fatigue factor that worries me. I’ll wrap it up by saying that the match is on Collignon’s racquet, but he has to put in the work to go and win it.