A former winner!

Sonego has already won this title and seems to be particularly good in this tournament every time.

It’s simple: in four appearances, Sonego has never lost in the first round. Yes, he’s often been pushed, like last year against a local player who was clearly weaker on paper, but he still manages to get through. I like the conditions because it’s both fast and the bounce isn’t that low, which can really help him with his forehand. He also has a title here, as I mentioned above, and you can rarely question his mentality in smaller tournaments. He knows how to motivate himself and push his limits, no matter how big or small the event is. He doesn’t have a lot of wins at the moment, but it’s also fair to say his draws are rarely easy. He ran into an exceptionally good Tiafoe in Cincinnati, and before that it was Griekspoor, who was very inspired in Montreal. I didn’t find him bad, strictly speaking. I think that in a tournament he likes, with a first round that’s more manageable this time, he could and normally should get through.

Kopriva, the eternally underrated guy, left me with mixed feelings at the Cancun Challenger last week. His first-round match against Onclin was just magnificent. He served very well, which is rare for him, and smothered him from the baseline with very solid tennis. On the other hand, after that he played Harris, who even got injured, and he never managed to find a solution. He actually got frustrated and panicked when his opponent seemed a bit physically affected. You can criticize him for that, because often in terms of pure tennis he’s good, but he’s missing that little something at the end of matches or at the end of sets sometimes. He’s a player I really like, but his level can also fluctuate a lot. This time, I found him a bit weak on the forehand side. His backhand is, for me, his best weapon.

He struggles a bit against big servers, and Sonego can be put in that category when the Italian is feeling the ball well on serve. I don’t think Sonego needs to be ultra aggressive, because the match-up seems fine for him without that. But we know the Italian likes to overdo it and can really pile up errors with an over-aggressiveness that isn’t necessary. I’d recommend watching live to see which version of Sonego shows up, but I still think the match-up suits him.