Serious Momentum

The Australian is 9-1 on hardcourts since the grass season...

I covered the Australian in Washington, where he was able to demolish Svajda and also put up a really good fight against Musetti, which is a difficult matchup for him. Sure, he has not faced a lot of "top players" in his matches, but he has really found his groove regardless. He managed to fall behind at the start against Barrios Vera in qualifying yesterday, but came back to win the first set and then won the second set convincingly, in what I thought was a strong performance, once again. As I mentioned in many other previews, I quite value qualifying wins here in Montreal, since the conditions are quite specific - it takes some time to get used to them.

Altmaier has not played on hard courts since Miami, so it would not be a surprise if he needs some time to adjust here. While he did not get a lot of wins in the grass/small post-grass clay season, I have found his level quite decent. He is playing with quite a lot of attacking intent. He was dealing with some kind of injuries as well, so some time off might have done him good. This matchup against Vukic is not the worst, but it's not easy either. Both players can hold their serves pretty well, but it is clear that Vukic has the advantage, with all the matches he has played on hardcourt already, and the fact that he has already adjusted to these specific conditions...