Let's try again...

These gentlemen recently faced off in Cincinnati...

Yes, it was not long ago that we had that messy match. Marozsan was able to kind of shock him at the start, but Zheng settled in nicely, and his more solid game managed to be stronger in the end, winning in a deciding-set tiebreak. Fabian went to Winston-Salem after that and had two decent wins against Damm and Kecmanovic before losing against Duckworth. Although Zheng managed to win four matches in Cincinnati, we are still not convinced about his level. I still feel that way. I want to say that he was a bit lucky to face such erratic opponents as Marozsan and Humbert before getting dismantled by Musetti. Normally, Grand Slams can be a bit challenging for younger players, since the different format and high expectations can be tough to navigate without experience. However, Zheng's GS results have been quite good so far this year, even if most of his results are in qualifying. It makes sense; he is quite a calm character with a solid game. I'm wondering if his dip in form has a bit to do with perhaps a bit of "season fatigue"? Even though he has not played that much, he is someone who comes almost straight from college tennis, without a lot of experience grinding the tour.

As for the matchup, I would say it favours Zheng, as we saw in the last match. Once he figured out how to deal with Marozsan's power, he was able to stay solid enough to extract enough errors. I don't think the Hungarian is at his best during this part of the season either; the balls are hard to control for a lot of players, and his game is already so erratic by default. Still, he is someone who can always pull out a big match, with his risky playstyle... high-risk, high-reward...