The masked avenger

Well, I have to admit it’s a bit frustrating for us French fans to see Munar here when Terence Atmane would really have deserved it. Especially since I’m afraid the Spaniard might become a new nightmare here.

Indeed, we saw how hard it is to break through Munar’s defense. Even more so when he still has hope. Because his defense wasn’t of the same quality when Térence was rolling over him and the Spaniard was grabbing his left ankle. Arthur is going to have to show up with a knife between his teeth, much more than in his R1. He won’t be able to afford to play a tight, nervous match here. And he’ll have to shorten the rallies or it’s going to be tough (we saw him cramp in the third set against JM Cerundolo, so not very reassuring physically in a Bo5 in New York humidity and against a real fox on these surfaces).

They’re tied 1–1 in head-to-heads, with a win for Arthur in 3 tight sets indoors, and one in straight sets for Munar in Miami. Which seems to go in the direction of what I’m saying, without actually proving it.

Because there’s also the slightly less tangible side of this match: motivation. Arthur beat Fokina right here even though I had zero hope in terms of the match-up. Even if it’s true that Fokina plays a bit more aggressively than Munar. Well, the old Munar, because the new Munar is a better hard-court player. He’s also an injured player who had to retire in Montreal. But I’m really wary of that...