Where it all began

Their first clash was in Miami during qualifying, and you could say that match unlocked something in our friend Landaluce.

I remember that qualifying match very well, I watched it, and Landaluce got away with it even though he really should’ve lost it in straight sets. Except Tirante choked when it came time to finish and was a bit exhausted at the end. I didn’t see a great match-up for either one of them, though. You can tell they’re two players who like to capitalize on their first serves and forehands by dominating the rally. I think it depends a lot on form on the day and also on the conditions.

I have to say I’m not really thrilled with Landaluce’s performances this week. He’s just won another scrappy match, coming back in the third set after being broken twice. It’s good that he kept believing and went after the win, but as for how he did it, that’s another story. His serve is still completely missing and he’s making an uncountable number of unforced errors. His first set against Arnaldi was almost perfect, but after that he was spraying the ball everywhere. I also find it a bit too easy to hide behind his playing style by saying: “yeah, but I go all out and I have no regrets.” Except he’s still playing a poor match and could tighten up his game a bit more.

It wasn’t great at all from Tirante either, but the Argentinian admitted he was very nervous about facing Djokovic because he had never even practiced with him. It’s true his first set was really awful. I thought he was totally out of it before he managed to loosen up a bit. But I don’t find the performance worrying in itself, because it depends a lot on who was on the other side of the net. It’s good that he got through it and now he has a winnable match next. Right now, he’s still confident. I think he’s capable of raising his level straight away, whereas with Landaluce, I’m not so sure. Maybe I’m being a bit harsh on the Spaniard, but I really struggle with his performances. Yes, he’s winning, but there’s something missing for me.

I’m waiting to hear from the other two analysts because I might be lacking objectivity. What I’m seeing from Landaluce right now is several completely rotten tournaments. And here, we’ve got a win over a player who was totally lost and a comeback against an Arnaldi who wasn’t exactly glorious either. With Tirante, you can see a bit more positive stuff in the last few weeks, even if he’s played some proper crap matches too, that’s true.