BenjaWIN Bonzi

The Frenchman has a great opportunity this week, given the names still left in the tournament.

The draw is opening up little by little. I don’t know about you, but for the moment, it’s Bonzi who’s making the best impression out of the four semi-finalists. The Frenchman played another complete match against VDZ, was rarely troubled on serve, and kept his errors down. He says he had a clear game plan, and it showed. Once again, I found him very focused and he doesn’t look like he’s overplaying. He simply seems comfortable in his tournament. His mix of solidity from the baseline and aggression with smart net approaches makes him a real threat for his opponents. It’s a tactic he’ll surely be able to reproduce to the letter against Buse, especially since he should have the upper hand in most rallies.

I was only moderately convinced by Buse’s win over Cerundolo for two reasons. First, because Cerundolo was hampered for most of the match and clearly didn’t believe in it. Second, because Buse tends to have lapses in his matches. He fell behind very quickly in the first two sets and had to tighten up at the end to get through. When he’s playing well and cutting down on errors, it’s really very hard to win points against him because his court coverage is exceptional. But then he’ll play several games in a row where he makes bad mistakes, tries to be a bit more aggressive, and loses focus.

This is a first meeting. I’m not all that worried about Bonzi, whom I find smart in how he manages his matches and, above all, tactically, with the ability to play different styles. I think he’s been seriously good this week and extremely fresh physically. Buse is resilient, he’ll probably make fewer errors than VDZ, but I don’t see him as a huge threat the way he has been at other times this season.