The world No. 760!

Gorzny was a lucky loser in Winston-Salem and I didn’t think I’d see him back on tour so soon, but he got his wildcard!

Normally he’s the kind of player people don’t really know, but I had prepped my match for his R1 against Hewitt and I watched the entire match! Basically, he played a mutant-level first set before logically dropping in level; the start of the match was shocking because everything was going in. It’s hard to play at that level all the time and once his hot streak passed, he made a ton of errors. That’s the first thing I remember: he could play a really good set in this long format and spring a surprise. His overall level is still quite low, but with the crowd behind him and a bit of magic, you never know.

Especially since Collignon isn’t in form, the Belgian hasn’t won a match since his final on clay. He loses to players who are at least decent though; it’s not shocking to lose to Hijikata, Popyrin or Altmaier, it would be to lose to Gorzny. The Belgian is still a serious customer in the long format, he’s mentally tough and this first-round draw is a good one for him. He should logically raise his level and be super motivated.

On one hand I don’t like his form or his level, but he’ll be able to play on the return and let his opponent wind himself up. Normally there’s a big gap in level.