Is there anything left to give?

Botic's been through two huge battles to get here...

It certainly has not been easy. He had to come back from two sets down against Gea in a physical match that lasted over five hours. Two days earlier, he had to come back from 2-1 down against Bergs in another high-paced, physical match that lasted almost five hours. Botic has been an absolute warrior... he definitely did not play his best in either match; there were quite a few dips on his side. However, he raised his level in the key moments, and as we know, he has a very high peak level. Against Gea, I was quite confused to see Botic play super-aggressively from the start; I was expecting him to take a bit more cautious approach, working points in his favor while being solid. I'm not sure if this was a tactical decision due to him feeling a bit fatigued from the intense match against Bergs prior. I will say that I still saw some pretty quick sprints from him in the fifth set against Gea, so that's a bit encouraging. However, I'm really worried that all this time on court will catch up to him.

Zverev himself has been a bit of a marathon man... he went five sets in his first two matches, also playing around ten hours. I do want to note that the pace was slower, since he takes a lot of time to bounce the ball 😂 Fortunately for him, he has managed his last two matches way more efficiently. I do still think Zverev has some way to go to find his best level here, but the matchup against VDZ in these circumstances should be rather favorable. I'm guessing it will be scheduled in the slower night session, where Zverev has played all his matches and had a great chance to adjust. Botic's best version, for me, is when he becomes a wall from the baseline and is repeatedly able to transition that into offense. Does he have any choice but to come out fully aggressive here? I'm not so sure...