Bring on the next Belgian!

Collignon was easily brushed aside; let's see what Blockx can do...

Collignon was not at his best, but Navone played an incredible match as well - perhaps not what we expect from him on a fast hardcourt! We already saw two good matches from him against Berrettini and Vacherot in Montreal, so perhaps he is actually starting to become more consistently dangerous on hardcourt? Despite being labeled as a "grinder", I find Navone to be quite a streaky player! There are stretches when he can barely put a ball on court, and then in the next set or game, he is almost unplayable when he starts hitting his spots, combined with his movement and stamina. If I were to put a small asterisk (*) on his wins, it would be that his opponents perhaps were not the most adjusted to hardcourts yet.

Will that be the case for Blockx as well? Well, he only got to play a fast match against Lehecka in Montreal, after getting a walkover against Munar. His big breakthrough came during the clay season. He also does not have a ton of matches played on outdoor hardcourt yet, compared to a lot of other players. In theory, his game should suit quite nicely here on these courts, since he plays quite similarly to Zverev/Hurkacz, serving big and staying solid from the baseline. We saw a decent Estoril tournament where he reached the final, but in a way it felt a bit similar to what Collignon did in Gstaad - reaching the final mainly through grit, more so than outstanding play. Navone's level is likely to drop from the previous round, but can Blockx find solutions against Navone? If you don't, you are in trouble, since he will cook you in the heat...