The kind of tournament for Gaston?

Our little Frenchman is capable of shining at the end of the season with the indoor swing that’s coming up soon. And his motivation too. Will he write off the Asian tour and focus on indoors? Or play with plenty of motivation knowing what’s coming?

It's pretty much impossible to predict which version of Gaston we can expect to see on tour. He's inconsistent. These last few weeks, I’ve found his level very good and he was fairly focused. Maybe the goal was to perform well at the US Open, get through qualifying, and do his best. Which he did. Now he has to move on to a slightly duller Asian swing with far less important goals. And especially the indoor season that will come after this tour. It’s a bit of a double-edged sword for him. On the one hand, I tell myself he’ll find his smile again and put together a good preparation. But it could also quickly get on his nerves and he might already be eager to move on to the indoor season soon.

In terms of motivation, it’s completely different for Shimabukuro, who is returning to a tour that will obviously mean a lot to him, since they’ll be heading to Japan afterward. He really needs it, given the pretty disastrous last few weeks he’s had, even though he had taken a small step forward on grass in particular. I found the content of his matches quite worrying, but with a bit of hindsight, looking at his recent opponents, I tell myself it’s mostly just the harsh law of top-level tennis. There are very few matches and draws that are favorable for a player like him, who has to almost overperform every time. He’s coming back from New Zealand for the Davis Cup with two wins, which is always good for confidence, but it’s still a long trip. Maybe Gaston has a bit more physical freshness, but I’m not convinced that, mentally, he’s the more reliable one.

Strangely, I remember their match at the US Open three years ago very clearly, where Gaston easily won the match playing at an incredible level, with a completely awful Shimabukuro that day. That’s also what I’m expecting in this match, in the sense that if Gaston shows his best level, for me he’s the favorite, because Shimabukuro can get carried away and really overpress. But trusting Gaston is not easy either.