It's Now or Never!

This is the match that Blockx has been waiting for...

Why, you ask? Well, because Cobolli managed to come back and win the deciding set against the Belgian in the second round in Cincinnati. Alexander was serving for the match, but he was unable to find enough first serves, and the Italian really punished him. Something he is so good at; he is incredibly clutch when it matters. Blockx states that he was looking forward to this match as soon as he saw the draw, and I believe him. You can tell by the way he is playing... he is trying to spend the minimum amount of time on court. Against Trungelliti in his second round, he was clearly dominant against the Argentine, who looked a bit physically spent. Yet, Blockx played every point with full intensity. I saw him do full sprints from side to side like six times for a single point when Trungelliti had 40-0 (and Blockx was up by like a set and a break). There was an unfortunate dip for him in the third set against Trungelliti, but he finished the fourth set quickly.

Cobolli is just completely unable to have easy matches, so it seems. He was two sets down to Comesana in his opening round as a massive favorite, before he mounted a comeback win. Then, he lost the first set, once again as a big favorite, against Schoolkate (admittedly, the Australian played really well). He was able to win the following three sets, but once again, it was not easy. He spent a lot of time on court in Cincinnati and has already managed to rack up a bit of time here at the USO. Still, I want to be careful to assume that he is going to be lacking energy... Cobolli is an absolute beast physically. He struggles to win easily, but at the same time, he tends to build up his form in the early-round battles.

Who will benefit most from best-of-five sets? I would say Cobolli... he is the one who is far more experienced, and also... it gives him more time to mount another comeback! Blockx will need to find a nice balance; obviously there is a lot of desire to win this one, but he needs to make sure he does not overpress. At the same time, playing too passively won't work either; Cobolli's forehand will destroy him...