Impact on entry!

Big first round for two players I could easily have seen making their way through the draw and being potential dark horses..

Great US swing for these two players who shone in their own way and showed a very high level of play. They’ve got quite the temperament and this first matchup could really spark fireworks, it’s a promising one! They will, however, need to find a certain momentum again, because the US swing has nothing to do with what awaits them in the coming weeks, and here I’m giving the edge to Atmane since the Frenchman has already done well in the past on this Asian swing! The Frenchman already has Challenger titles and enjoys playing in Asia, so I’d say he shouldn’t need a huge adjustment period.

Faria has very few references in Asia and he mainly played the Davis Cup a few days ago in El Salvador. Sure, his singles match was super short, but after that he has a massive trip to make and little time to adapt, which for me is a real factor to take into account here.

In terms of level of play, I’d say it’s quite close. We’ve got two players who serve well (Atmane hits fewer double faults but his first serve is a bit less impactful), and they like to be aggressive afterwards. Even though Faria has taken a step up in terms of level, he’s still quite inconsistent mentally, and I haven’t forgotten that he needed time to really get going during the US swing. Atmane seems more stable to me and he knows this tour inside out, on top of logically being fresher and better prepared than his opponent.