Careful with the qualifier!

Bolt is the kind of qualifier you need to watch out for, because he has an unusual playing style and, in fast conditions, he could be a real nuisance to face.

For those who don’t know him, Bolt is a left-hander with an aggressive playing style, who likes to come to the net with a slightly more old-school game. His average level of play is quite low; he has a few flashes of brilliance during the year, but overall it remains pretty average. However, as I said, his profile can be tricky to handle in this kind of tournament, because it’s a new swing, he’s coming out of qualifying and the conditions are fast. If his opponent lacks confidence or gets choked and can’t find solutions, things can quickly head into tie-breaks where Bolt can have his chance.

And it’s Marozsan who will have to be careful. The Hungarian could also be a serious threat with his very aggressive game in these conditions, but he’s a heavy favorite. It’s not really the role we like him in, especially when there’s someone who can match his aggressiveness. Marozsan doesn’t defend very well. He’s mainly a player who likes to have time and who, paradoxically, also likes fairly slow conditions so he can set up his game and be the one dictating the rallies. When it’s a bit too fast and he’s struggling on return or in baseline play, he ends up overwhelmed. On top of that, his current form isn’t great, and he played in the Davis Cup. So we’ve got a player who might need some time to find his bearings up against someone who is already there and has two wins under his belt.

Although the gap in level of play is quite huge, the context of this match slightly narrows that gap and gives Bolt a small chance to surprise Marozsan.