Watch out for the Duck!

And yes, we see Sonego, a former winner here, and our predictive gut goes wild! But why couldn’t it be the Duck who comes and shines in a low-stakes ATP 250?

Not easy for me to judge. On the one hand, Sonego is appealing because of his name, the performances he can deliver and has delivered in this tournament, and that ever-spot-on fighter’s attitude. But the truth is, he really struggled against a solid Pierre-Hugues while being far from perfect. You tell yourself it’s a first round, fair enough. And yesterday, Manna made so many errors that, well... It’s hard to gauge whether Sonego can raise his level here.

As for the Duck, he’s been full throttle for a few weeks now. Not too many question marks.

It could be quite tight, I think. Slow enough for there to be rallies, with the Duck exploiting the Italian’s backhand, but he could also be rushed by Sonego’s hypersonic game. I’m having a hard time choosing between them...