Nice draw, right?

Halys gets a pure clay-courter for his first round in New York and should normally be fine, right?

Huge surface advantage for the Frenchman, who plays very well on hard courts and has a big-quality serve that should make the difference. However, his baseline game isn’t all that effective on this surface. What I mean is, he’s not an ultra-aggressive player who’s going to rush Diaz for time, and that’s something that bothers me a bit. If you take away Halys’ serve quality, I’m afraid he’ll find himself too often in baseline rallies. It’s not something he hates, but against a Diaz Acosta who excels in that area, I’m not exactly confident either. I’d rather he try to hit a bit more aggressively after his first shots, or even come to the net, but at the moment that’s not what he’s looking to do.

Diaz Acosta is a pure clay-courter, he’s only played three matches on hard this year and very logically avoids the surface. On the other hand, he’s in form and is coming off a Challenger title. He’s a player who, in the past, has often been tough to face, no matter the surface. It mainly depends on his physical condition, and when he can string matches together, he’s a great player. He’s a clay-courter that I’d almost categorize as an aggressive clay-courter, because he likes to dictate play and really go for it.

With his lefty touch and tenacity, he won’t be easy to handle. He actually already beat Halys on hard three years ago. It was a while ago, but it shows he’s capable of it. I’m not 100% sure Halys is going to win this match.