Same old Kecmanovic?

Year after year, Miomir does not change a lot, does he?

First of all, the most classic pattern. Matches that go deep into sets, usually a deciding set, with tiebreakers. Sadly, he tends to end up on the losing side; he is not the most clutch player. Besides that, he is someone who tends to have issues stringing together good tournaments, even matches. I guess having to play long matches all the time doesn't help in that regard. I don't really like his last matches on hardcourt that much, even if he managed two wins and both his losses are in deciding sets. He was on his way to losing in straight sets against Cobolli (before a rain break). I even found his 6-3, 6-3 win against Carabelli not all that impressive! Those are the kind of matches where he tends to shine, against more passive players, when he can be the one to dictate.

Well, fortunately for Kecmanovic, he gets to face a player who is also wildly out of form. Shimabukuro put himself on the map a bit during the grass season, with some great matches. However, it has all been a bit downhill since then. Quite frankly, he is just making way too many errors right now. Yes, he has an aggressive playstyle, and it is part of his game, but it's rather self-destructive at the moment. Kecmanovic still has a solid rally tolerance, but if Sho manages to cut down the errors at least a little bit, his aggression could trouble Miomir. Well, that's still a lot of speculation, since Kecmanovic has still maintained at least a decent level, while the Japanese player has been really lacking for a few matches now, against established ATP players...