QQ!

Two players who came through qualifying also benefit from a super draw. It's the perfect time to rack up points and money.

Apart from the first round, which was long, Basavareddy then won very easily in the last two qualifying rounds. Overall, he had fairly similar matchups where he was comfortable, playing against good defenders and players who gave him time. The American is excellent in this kind of matchup because he applies smart pressure and playing his game doesn’t bother him at all. He’s now going to face a completely different profile and will have to adapt.

Schoolkate, coming out of nowhere, has just come through qualifying by notably beating Draxl in the final round, even though the Canadian was in good form but far too passive. Schoolkate is an ultra-aggressive player who relies on his quality of serve but also on a very present net game. As soon as he has the opportunity to come forward, he takes it. That’s why we now have a matchup that has nothing to do with the previous ones for Basavareddy, who generally does not excel against this type of player. He doesn’t like big servers, he doesn’t like being attacked too much; he’s a player who likes to have time, and I’ve already seen him lose to players who are too aggressive. Schoolkate fits in that category, but his level of play fluctuates a lot.

If I base myself only on his last qualifying match, I’m tempted to say: watch out for the huge threat that is Schoolkate, because he was feeling his tennis particularly well, and as I said, his profile could trouble Basavareddy. Now, he has to manage to produce the same performance, which is far from guaranteed. Where Draxl offered absolutely nothing in the match, standing two meters behind the baseline, Basavareddy will put weight on his own service games and try not to be on the back foot the whole time. That could make the difference and prevent Schoolkate from being comfortably in attack all match long.