The lucky one, not so much a loser

Gea could have stopped in qualifying, but he seized that little stroke of luck from fate to show that he had what it takes to go much further than that.

Huge tournament from the Frenchman, who’s just won again by showing a really high level of play! It’s true that on paper he hasn’t beaten any huge names so far, but I can assure you his opponents are playing very well and above all, he’s playing his best tennis at the moment. You can feel that his title in Los Cabos may have unlocked something, and I find him better and better in every area. The only thing that worries me a bit is the physical toll, because he’s stringing together marathon matches and obviously that’s going to start weighing on his legs and in his head at some point. That said, he seems very enduring and his opponent is also coming off a big exhausting battle.

A little over 4 hours and 30 minutes of play for Van De Zandschulp’s win over Bergs in an exceptional match that I loved. Sure, there were quite a lot of errors, especially on serve, but the level in the fifth set was insane. I was even surprised that neither of them cramped or looked tired. And honestly, hats off to VDZ for holding on, because he’s showing things this week that we rarely see from him. The level of play is excellent and he’s got a fighter’s attitude. He’s a player who can easily let himself lose when nothing’s working or when his opponent is playing well. But this week, it’s different. You can feel that he’s confident too and playing well, which helps him mentally to never give up. We even saw him encouraging himself and shouting at times to pump himself up, which is quite unusual for him, but so representative of the version of him we’re seeing in this tournament. I’m a fan of what VDZ is doing for us.

I’m having a hard time taking a stance regarding their physical conditions. Logically, it should be the Frenchman who’s a bit more affected by his previous matches, but I didn’t find him worn down, and it’s the same for VDZ, who didn’t look affected to me either. On the other hand, another match awaits us, and Gea says he already beat him in a club match last year. I didn’t see that match, and it’s hard to rely on it, especially since with VDZ it’s often all or nothing, and it doesn’t necessarily mean much. From what I’m seeing this week, I think Gea has a shot in this match-up, because the Frenchman doesn’t just hang in from the baseline, he attacks hard, and that’s what allowed him to beat Zheng. He finished with just over fifty points at the net, with a very good percentage of points won there. That’s precisely what hurt VDZ a bit in the last match: the fact that the Belgian was taking away his time and coming forward to finish at the net.