How far can the Lucky Loser go?

When will Cina finally have a breakthrough tournament on the ATP Tour?

There has been a bit of hype about him in the last two years, with a few wildcards. Truth be told, most of the time I watch Cina, I end up being a bit disappointed! Maybe it is because some of his losses get stuck in my mind... like against De Jong last year. Michelsen this year at the US Open. He can play at a good level, but he also has the ability to be absolutely non-existent on court, taking a brutal beating. Well, he got absolutely thrashed by Basil in the final round of qualifying here, but with Basil's level, I forgive him a bit! It was a clean win against Ugo Carabelli in the first round, but the Argentine also didn't really put up a great fight. I found Muller's match to be quite similar... a good match from him, against a Kouame who didn't play great at all.

Cina and Muller faced earlier this year in Marrakech, and it was a rather easy win for Muller. Cina had moments of good tennis, but was just way too inconsistent against someone as experienced and tough from the baseline as Muller. That's kind of how I see this match going, even if I think Cina can perhaps be a bit more competitive this time, with some more easy points in the faster conditions. However, I'm going to be a bit cautious; we have seen a few matches already where "rematches" have favored the player who lost the previous time ;) Just have a look at Sonego against Duckworth and Jacquet vs Vukic... It's a well-known trend with "revenge matches", but there is, of course, some truth to it. In a way, being a Lucky Loser could truly be a perfect thing for Cina, who can just go full-out aggressive mode (à la Basil), with nothing to lose!