Can he?

Once again it feels like things are going a bit too fast for Stan. We saw it again against Faria in Gstaad: in the phases where he has to defend, it’s not easy. So he needs a very specific playing style and conditions to really be able to express himself at his best. Of course he always finds a way because he’s Stan, he’s got insane experience, a forehand and backhand that can hit winners at any moment, same with the serve. But here, it’s slow, and Burruchaga is an aggressive clay-courter, so I think that’s the worst combo. Because he defends well and goes for it whenever he can, which leaves Stan little opportunity to control a lot of the offensive phases. So I think that, as often, Stan can go and grab a tie-break, maybe even a set, but not the match here.

Still, be careful and keep an eye on it live because Burru still has his compression sleeves on his right arm.